Meet Maxine
by eurekawriter
Summary: 10 year old Maxine uses time travel to fix what went down between her parents. But what happens when she realizes her parents are the world's famous Russo siblings? Even worse, what happens when Justin and Alex realize she's their little girl?
1. Meet Maxine

**Hello everyone! This fanfic is a spin-off from the WOWP episode "Three Maxes and a Little Lady." I decided to play around with the character of Maxine (keep in mind she's played by the adorable Bailee Madison) and tried to incorporate her into a Jalex story. Regardless of the plot line of the real WOWP, keep an open mind as you read this and let me know if you'd like to see more! **

Maxine wasn't your average ten year old girl.

She had quite the personality. She was very outgoing, but she always took the precaution to think about her actions. However, her actions would often get into trouble and she was very stubborn. She was also quite smart for her age- she had a quick mind and was good at thinking of ideas (even if they were really crazy ones).

Her personality was fascinating to many, but to be honest, Maxine was one of the cutest little girls around. She had beautiful dark brown locks that flowed to her shoulder and encircled her petite face. She had both parent's facial features, but she was one lucky girl to have her mother's eyes. Her eyes were chocolate brown and sparkled along with her personality. She was beautiful.

Maxine treasured her friends and hobbies, but most of all, she loved _magic. _Yes, she was a wizard in training- thanks to her mom's side of the family. Her mother's side was very magically savvy, but her father gave her lessons anyways. Apparently he was also aware of the wizard world, but wasn't a wizard himself- something Maxine always pondered about during her free time. How could her father not have powers and still know about magic? She had to ask her parents about that issue one day…

Magic was the center of her world, but she didn't dare forget about her family. She cherished her family- even if they weren't exactly a "family." Her parents divorced when she was a toddler. She grew up living with her mother during the week and her father during the weekends. Maxine loved her parents and didn't really mind their divorce- she just wanted to know _why. _And they wouldn't tell her…they just told her that "they didn't have feelings for each other anymore." So cliché. But whatever, she had her Uncle Max too. He was truly the best uncle ever. No joke.

"Maxine, come on! We're going to be late and you know how worried your father gets when we're late!"

Maxine sighed and jumped off her bed, running out of her childhood bedroom to head downstairs. She loved being with her mother because it mean she was really at _home. _Her father let her mother keep the house they bought together as a couple. Maxine rushed into the kitchen and opened a package of cookies.

Her mother heard the sound of the package unwrapping and yelled, "Maxine! You can only have _one…_now hurry up!"

Maxine complained, "Aww, but mom…I wanted two."

"Fine! But bring me one too!" Her mother gave in, not wanting to fight her when they were already late.

Maxine smiled- her mom was awesome. She truly cared for her and wasn't afraid to act like a kid again. She was really laidback- jamming out to both their favorite songs in the car and not hesitating to take Maxine out. Maybe her strong connecting to her mother just came from the fact that she was with her for the majority amount of time. Maxine loved her father too, but she just felt closer to her mom.

The engine turned off and her mother sighed, "Well, Maxine….I'll see you in a couple of days. Be good, okay?"

Maxine's eye sparkled, "You know it, Mom." She gave her mother a hug before walking up the steps leading to her father's condo.

Her father opened the door with a relieved look, "Oh good…you're here."

Maxine laughed, "Daddy, you don't need to worry every time I'm a few minutes late."

He hugged her gently and defended himself, "I know, but anything could happen…"

Another lady appeared in the doorway right beside her father. "Oh, sweetie, you're here! So soon?"

Maxine sighed…it was her father's girlfriend- Juliet. She wasn't _so _bad, but she got an ugly feeling from her. She treated her just fine whenever her father was around, but whenever they were alone by themselves, she barely spoke to her. Maxine felt like a great burden to her- and her relationship with her Dad. But who cared? She was Daddy's favorite girl.

Out of politeness, Maxine replied, "Hi…uhh…Juliet."

"I made yummy cookies!" Juliet exclaimed.

Maxine smiled sweetly and refused, "Oh, no thank you…Mom and I just bought our favorite cookies from the store." Who said she was supposed to love Juliet?

Justin sighed and encouraged, "Maxine, why don't you come in?"

"Okay…" Maxine turned around and waved, "Bye, Mom!"

Her mother waved back, before staring straight at her father. They smiled…with expressions that almost looked like they just wanted to talk.

Even if Maxine was a unique little girl, she was similar to any other divorced couple's child. She always had the hope and desire that her parents would someday be together again. She couldn't help but smile as she caught the few glances her parents gave each other every time she switched homes. Her father would smile and her mother would too- it truly made Maxine happy.

Right now, she didn't know exactly why her parents split. In her eyes, they were perfect for each other. All she knew was something happened when she was little and they didn't like to talk about it with her. But finding out their secret was at the top of her to do list- it couldn't be that bad, right?

She was a devious child, a trait she received from her mother, and knew she would eventually figure it out.

Well folks, meet Maxine- daughter of Justin and Alex Russo.

**Well…what do you think? I really liked coming up with this idea because it might have a similar feel to a more family centered fic (kind of like Switched Realities/Hopeless Magic) with plenty of Jalex- and Maxine. **** Leave your thoughts in a review or feel free to message me! **


	2. Too Many Secrets

**Wow, thanks for the amazing response, everyone! I really appreciate it. Sorry you had to wait a few days for this chapter- I wanted to develop the story further before I posted anything else. **

Maxine rushed down the stairs calling for her father, "Dad!"

Justin's voice was heard from his office, "I'm in here, Maxine!"

Maxine ran to his office and stood in his doorway. She noticed him working on something and interrupted him, "Dad, come on! I've been waiting forever!"

Justin muttered, "Hold on a minute…"

Maxine whined, "Daddy! You said we'd have a lesson today."

Justin nodded, "We will…"

"Then come on!" Maxine tugged on him.

Knowing he couldn't win, Justin sighed and stood up. He chuckled, "Alright, alright…let me finish one little thing. Meet me in the lair in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay!" Maxine's eyes sparkled with joy and excitement as she ran off.

Justin chuckled to himself. He just couldn't believe how similar she was to his personality as well as her mother's. Maxine had such a passion for magic and was always determined to learn more- just like him. She was also very smart, but yet again, magic seemed to be a piece of cake for her. It was easy…just like it had been for Alex. Alex never studied and barely tried, but whenever she needed magic, she could pull it together somehow. All these traits made Maxine almost the perfect young wizard- there was just one flaw. She inherited something else from Alex- her spontaneity and lack of "good judgment." Sure she was smart and all, but she often acted upon her actions too quickly and put herself in a lot of trouble. It was so hard to keep up with her.

Justin walked through the hallway and entered a closet, the lair he created just for Maxine. He found his daughter sitting on the couch. He began lecturing about some basic rules of magic, which kind of bored Maxine to death. She was grateful to know all the rules and stuff, but she wanted to get on the good stuff- actual spells. However, she saw this as an opportunity to ask her father something.

"Dad, I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"How can you know about magic when you don't have powers?" Maxine asked honestly.

Justin was caught off guard by her question and stumbled at first to make up an excuse, "Uhh….I was just very familiar with magic at a young age. My family knew about it…and uh…Maxine, we're getting distracted. We don't have much time left before we go out to dinner tonight. And didn't you want to learn a new spell?"

Maxine wasn't fully convinced and hoped she would one day find out the truth. But she nodded anyways, "Yeah!" She got up to get some lesson books.

Justin sighed. He thanked God and his lucky stars for saving him. He wasn't a wizard anymore…and technically; Alex wasn't his sister by blood either. This was a whole other story…a whole other _secret. _He jumped back to the moment and focused on his daughter.

"Okay, we're going to learn the spell to duplicate things. You know, this spell was one of the first one's I learned….uhhh, I mean, your mother learned about." Justin fumbled with his words for a second time that afternoon.

"Really? But we've had lots of lessons before this one…why didn't you teach me this first?" Maxine questioned.

"I guess I was just saving it…" Justin shrugged. He then asked, "Do you have your wand ready?"

Maxine nodded excitedly and jumped up, "Yeah, it's right here!" She reached in her boots and pulled it out.

Justin couldn't help but smile…she was so much like Alex. Only those two would put their wands in their shoes.

Maxine noticed his father chuckling to himself and asked, "What, Daddy?"

"Oh…uhh, nothing…okay, repeat after me, okay?" Justin instructed,

"_Edgebono."_

"Edgebono." Maxine repeated as a small flicker of light sparked from the end of her wand.

"_Utoosis!"_

"Utoosis!" Maxine pointed her wand at a small frog that Justin had provided for this lesson. In a split second, it duplicated right before them.

Justin praised her, "All right! You did it!"

But before Maxine could say anything, the frog opened its mouth and "mooed". Maxine giggled, "That's not…right, is it?"

Justin shook his head, "No…what were you thinking of when you said the spell?"

"Uhh…well, I thought about the cookies I had earlier and how nice milk is with cookies…so that's where the cow noise came from?" Maxine guessed before twirling a piece of her hair.

Justin nodded, "Yeah…it's really important that you keep in mind three things while you a spell. You must have a clear mind, stay focused, and concentrate."

Justin suddenly felt himself transport to his past memories lead him- the time his father taught the same lesson to him.

_Jerry instructed, "Remember- as with any spell if you don't concentrate, it doesn't come out exactly right."_

_The rabbit in the cage barked. Alex smiled, "Oh that's cool…I've always wanted a guard rabbit. You know, to scare of the mailman." She raised her eyebrows with a devious smile. _

_Justin admitted, "I was thinking about dogs when I cast the spell!"_

Maxine's voice snapped Justin back to the present. She said, "Daddy, I know there was a small glitch in that spell, but can we try it again?"

Justin agreed, "Uhh yeah…we can try it on a book or something." He picked up the first book he saw.

"Can't we do something more challenging? Oh! Does it work with people?" Maxine complained. "I want to do something harder!"

"Well, yeah, it works with people, but…"

"Really? How cool! I want to try…" Maxine pointed her wand to herself, "_Edgebono…_"

Justin's eyes widened. He tried stopping her, but was too late, "Wait!"

Maxine finished, _"Utoosis…"_

Two little Maxines were now in front of him. Justin exclaimed, "Maxine! You shouldn't have done that without me giving you permission."

"Sorry, Daddy." Maxine apologized, but smiled immediately while looking at herself, "Wow, I did a great job! I look good!"

Before Justin could begin scolding her, the duplicate opened her mouth to speak and a "moo" came out.

"Ugh!" Maxine sighed, being a complete drama queen, "I was thinking about the mooing frog!"

_Déjà vu._ Justin realized she said pretty much the same thing Alex said so many years ago...history was repeating itself…literally.

"_Wow, I did a great job! I look good!" Alex exclaimed as she looked at her duplicate. _

_The duplicate suddenly barked and Alex whined, "Ugh! I was thinking about your stupid barking rabbit!"_

"_Yup, it's perfect because that's what I hear when you talk to me!" Justin retorted. _

Justin went on to realize that this spell was really important in his life…well, Alex's life too. It allowed Alex to go to that crazy ten minute sale and it saved their lives from the "government" when they were being quarantined. He couldn't believe how long ago that all was.

Justin couldn't help, but laugh at all their crazy memories and blurted out, "Gosh, you remind me so much of your mother. I remember doing the same…uhh…never mind." _God, what was wrong with him today?_ It was like the truth was rolling of his tongue through every sentence he said.

Maxine heard her father mention her mother and became very attentive. She asked, "Dad, why aren't you and Mom together?"

Now Justin was _really _caught off guard. He said what he always said, "We've already talked about this."

"I know."

"So you know that there's not much more to say." Justin sternly replied.

Maxine was still interested and pressed further, "Why did you split?"

Justin avoided the question and sat on the couch. He tried explaining, "Maxine, you do know that I truly care about your mother…it's just that I don't…" Justin swallowed and took a deep breath, "I don't love her anymore." There…he said it- only now did he feel rather comfortable saying that.

Noticing that Maxine wasn't fully satisfied with his answer, Justin continued to speak, "Feelings change…that's what happened between us."

Maxine pleaded and faced her father straight in the face, "But _why?_"

Justin was immediately lost in her chocolate brown eyes, the same way he's always been lost in her mother's. His thoughts drifted away as he thought about the day he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

"_Justin, isn't there another way?" _

_Justin shook his head, "No…this is our only option."_

"_What about our future? We were going to be together forever! What about Maxine?"_

"_Alex, you know just as well as I do that we're doing this for the greater good."_

"_Oh, so you're going to give me a speech about the 'so called greater good' now?" Alex rolled her eyes. _

_Justin shook his head, "No…look, you just need to accept the fact that we're forced to split. It's the only way." He noticed a few tears escape Alex's eyes. He gently wiped them away and pleaded, "Don't cry…"_

_Alex's expression made him melt inside. She replied, "I'm so scared…"_

"_Of what?" _

"_I'm scared Maxine won't know her father…and that I'll lose you forever."_

_Justin sighed and kissed her forehead before whispering, "I'm never going to leave my daughter, Alex…you know that. She mean's the world to me…you both do. Although I may not express the feelings I would like to, just know that deep down, I still truly love you. I always have." _

Technically, it wasn't Justin or Alex's fault. It wasn't a mistake; they were _forced _to leave each other. So naturally, for the sake of keeping their secret safe, they both agreed it had to end up this way. They did the best they could to plan a future that was the closest to the one they had always dreamed about.

But it didn't really matter anymore…Justin learned to love Juliet once more. She was who truly mattered now.

Justin shook off the wacky and unexpected thoughts when Maxine pulled on his sleeve, "Daddy, please tell me!"

"You don't really need to know all the details, Maxine. I've told you that before…" Justin sighed, still reluctant to tell her anything.

"I know, but…"

Justin motioned for Maxine to come sit on his lap. He held her close, "Maxine, you don't need to worry about the past. What's done is done. But you must always remember that what happened between your mother and I had nothing to do with you. It was just between us." He continued, "Maybe when you're older, both your mother and I will tell you everything."

_But she was old enough. _Maxine had contradicting thoughts in the back of her mind. She was ready for the truth…why wouldn't they tell her anything. Surprisingly, she remained silent.

Justin truthfully stated, "I love you, Maxine. And I promise that one day you'll find out. Just not now…" Justin hugged her close as more images replayed in his head.

"_How am I supposed to live without you?"_

"_This is the only way to keep us safe and to keep Maxine from finding out our secret."_

"_But we were never really worried about that! You know that she'll find out…we'll even tell her one day. I don't think this is about Maxine, Justin…I think you know who I'm talking about. It's all her fault!" _

"_Well, yes, but we have to play by the rules…" Justin said. _

"_But we're being blackmailed!" _

"_Look, the fact is that they can't find out that she, not Maxine, knows. Then we really can't be together." Justin was now talking about two different sets of people. He continued, "I just wish that…"_

A high pitched voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts, "Justin! Did you tell her without me?"

Justin's head snapped up to find Juliet standing in front of them. He grimaced and gave her look that seemed to say "Not yet!" He was hoping Maxine didn't notice, but oh yes, she did.

Maxine suddenly raised an eyebrow and became interested, "Tell me what?"

Juliet sighed and looked at Justin, "Well, I guess we can tell her now…"

Justin knew his lucky streak of avoiding questions all day was bound to end. He knew he couldn't escape this secret. He began, "We were going to tell you at dinner tonight, Maxine, but I guess you can find out now."

"Find out what?" Maxine jumped off her father's lap and simply stood.

Justin wanted to take things slow, "You see, Juliet and I…"

Being completely obnoxious, Juliet shouted happily, "We're getting married!"

Maxine's mouth stood open. She was first shocked, but then she felt her hopes and desires being crushed within the moment. She remained painfully silent and turned paler by the second.

Justin was a bit worried, "Sweetie…are you okay? You don't look to…"

Juliet didn't help by exclaiming, "It's great, isn't it? Your father and I can truly be together now! It's everything we've wanted."

Maxine felt sick as she talked. They didn't even include her opinion on things…this was what _they _wanted. Juliet never cared for her and she never would…all she wanted was her father.

Justin sighed at Juliet's sudden outburst and tried comforting Maxine, "Sweetie, this will be good for all of us."

Once again, Juliet ruined the moment and blurted, "I'll be your mother!"

Maxine's head shot straight up and she turned to Juliet with a rather nasty glare. Then she looked at Justin- with a hint of disappointment and depression in her eyes. She then looked up at both of them with fear before shaking her head and running off.

Justin was slightly annoyed with Juliet. He blamed her, "We were supposed to take it nice and easy…not start ranting at her!"

Juliet rolled her eyes, "Well I thought you told her earlier and plus, I was just telling the truth. Whether she likes it or not, I'm part of the family now."

Justin retorted, "But she didn't need to hear that you were replacing her mother." He rushed out of the room to find his little girl, not wanting to hear Juliet babble on any longer. He put Maxine first before anything else.

He finally reached her room and slowly opened cracked open the door, He walked over to where she was sitting on her bed and sat right beside her.

Justin apologized, "Hey…I'm sorry, Maxine…that all came just a bit fast, huh?"

Maxine stayed silent, not wanting to talk to her father.

Justin sat next to her and explained, "I believe this will be a really great thing for all of us. We'll be a family."

Maxine mumbled, "Mom's not even dating…she doesn't even need a family. We're fine by ourselves…just the two of us."

Justin sighed, realizing how difficult this was, "But that's your mother…not me. Besides, why does that worry you? Juliet has been with us since you were very little. She'll be a great addition to our family."

Maxine looked at her father straight in the eyes, letting tears flow more freely. She cried and spat out of bitterness, "But she's not _my mom._"

Justin nodded, "I know she's not, Maxine. No one can ever replace your mother…all Juliet was trying to say was that she was going to be your step-mother. That's all."

The thought of Juliet replacing her mother was ridiculous, but perhaps it wasn't the true reason why Maxine bolted out of that room so quickly. Maybe it was her own personal way of dealing with her forever wish of her parents getting back together. Her parents were meant to be…but now this just ruined _everything._

Maxine blurted out as she wiped away tears, "But you…and Mom were supposed to…"

Justin realized where this was going and immediately interrupted her. "I love Juliet, Maxine…not your mother. I don't know if you thought we would be getting back together, but if you did think that, then I'm sorry…but that's just not…an option for us. This is my decision to make and I'd really appreciate it if you could be somewhat okay with it…because you're my favorite girl." Justin honestly replied before leaving her room.

Maxine lay on her bed as a few tears continued to escape. She didn't like where everything seemed to be going…she was fine with Juliet always hanging around the house for practically her whole life, but she never thought it would come to this.

Why did her father make such a commitment? Was he trying to hide something? And did it have to do with the past…and all the untold truths?

Whether or not Maxine liked it, Juliet was now just one step away from taking her father away from her. And whether or not _they _liked it, Maxine was going to find out the secrets everyone seemed to be hiding from her.

**As you could probably already tell, this story will be going in many crazy directions. It involves a new character- Maxine, time traveling, secrets, family moments, etc…but they're all somehow connected to Jalex **** Don't forget to watch the first episode with Maxine tonight because I'll be referring a lot from it in upcoming chapters. This story will take off from just the first episode with Maxine, so you could probably disregard the real WOWP plotline from here on out. **

**Don't forget to review too! **


	3. Time Traveling

**Hey! Here's the next chapter! Sorry, I've been wanting to update, but I just can't because I have finals this week. However, once they're done, the chapters should be posted a bit more frequently. **

During the remaining days with her father, Maxine stayed unusually quiet. Her father unloaded quiet a lot on her over the past weekend and she was a bit overwhelmed. All she really wanted to do was go home- to her mother. Luckily, they had just arrived to drop her off.

Justin walked up with Maxine to what used to be his old home and knocked on the door. After a few moments, Alex slowly opened the door, but before she could say one word, Maxine interrupted.

Maxine threw herself at her mother and exclaimed, "Mom!" She whispered, "I missed you."

Alex stumbled backwards before realizing her daughter was hugging her as tight as possible- it was as if she hadn't seen her in weeks. After giving Justin a slight look of confusion, Alex held her daughter close. She rubbed her back gently and whispered, "I missed you too, Maxine."

Alex bent down to face Maxine and asked her about her weekend. "Did you have a good time with Daddy, Maxine?"

Maxine shrugged, "Yeah…I guess."

Alex questioned, "Did you do some magic? I know you really excited to your lessons."

Maxine mumbled, "Uh…yup."

As Alex continued to converse with her daughter, Justin realized how much he missed seeing Maxine and Alex interact. He smiled as Alex held their little girl's hands- who knew Alex would turn out to be an actual decent mother?

Noticing that Maxine was not quite herself, Alex sincerely asked, "Sweetie, are you okay? You're not that talkative today...which is usually not the case for you."

Maxine just shrugged and reluctantly glanced at her father.

As if on cue, Justin also cleared his throat and muttered, "I better get going…"

Alex stood up to face Justin and nodded, "Sure…ummm…Maxine, say goodbye."

Maxine looked awake and replied briefly, "Bye." She began to walk away before Alex stopped her.

Alex slightly scolded, "Uh, Maxine…give your father a proper goodbye. Give him a hug."

Maxine shook her head, lacking enthusiasm. Within moments she ran off. Alex sighed and yelled, "Maxine!" She was just about to follow her when Justin held her back.

At his sudden touch, Alex immediately stopped and asked uncomfortably, "Uhh what are you..."

Justin quickly removed his hand awkwardly and sighed, "Just let her be…"

Alex raised an eyebrow with a suspicious expression plastered on her face, "Justin, what's going on? What happened this weekend?"

"How do you know something went on this weekend?" Justin asked deliberately.

Alex replied, "Oh, so something _did _happen? What's wrong? Why is Maxine upset?"

Justin sighed. Seeing the fierce, determined fire burning in Alex's eyes convinced him to give her an explanation. He began, "Well I was giving her magic lessons and Juliet…"

"Juliet?" Alex perked up, listening closely.

Justin replied, "Calm down…Juliet didn't do anything…well, maybe she did, but it was my…"

Alex pressured him, "Just cut to the chase, Justin!" She folded her hands impatiently.

Justin calmly stated, "Okay, okay…uhh…Juliet and I are getting married." Phew, Justin felt a whole lot better for letting that off his chest, but for some reason, he felt even more anticipation than before.

Alex's mind was full of things and now had all become a blur. She wasn't expecting that response and no matter how hard she tried to wrap her head around this new idea, she just couldn't. She knew Justin was with Juliet now, but it was never supposed to come to this. And if it did, Alex had prepared herself for it. Looks like she wasn't prepared enough. Her knees began to tremble as she stuttered, "Ma..married?"

Justin nodded, "Uhh…yeah. Hey, are you alright? You can sit down or…"

Alex snapped back to reality and stood her ground. She wasn't exactly "mad" at him, but she was hurt and her instincts were telling her this was all a mistake. "Justin, I never thought that…."

Justin cut her off, "But it did happen, okay, Alex? Please don't meddle with this…"

"I didn't say anything about meddling! Can't we at least talk though?"

"About what?" Justin raised his voice, getting a bit perturbed, but mostly fearful of what she had to say to him.

Meanwhile, Maxine sat at the top of the stairs so she could hear what they were saying- and honestly, she became interested after every little thing was said between her parents.

Justin scoffed, "Alex, did you think we were going to…"

"No! Of course not!" Alex shouted, but then mumbled, "We…can't."

"Exactly! We can't! I moved on, Alex…and I think you should too."

"I have moved on!"

"Yeah, right…"

"Well, you probably wouldn't have moved on either if it wasn't for her!"

"But I love her!" Justin retorted.

Alex was a bit startled by his strong statement, but being Alex Russo, she couldn't be outsmarted. She replied just as strongly, "I'm not going to let myself be affected by this, Justin. I think we've gone through worse, so why break down now?"

Maxine listened carefully- oh, how she loved eavesdropping. She asked herself, "_What do they mean they've gone through worse?_"

Alex sternly continued, "Justin, I don't love you anymore. See? The feeling's mutual…" _Why did she feel like she was lying then? _Alex pushed that thought to the back of her mind and said, "I just wished you could've…uh…moved on with someone besides Juliet."

"Alex, I think Juliet is the best thing that happened to me…well, us…ummm after everything that happened."

Alex glared and replied heatedly, "Justin, you know just as well as I do that she played a _huge role _in that too."

"Yes, I'm aware…can you just let me be now? I need to leave…" Justin avoided further comments.

Alex sighed and agreed, "Yeah, sure, whatever…but just one more thing."

Justin impatiently responded, "What?"

Alex said, "We need to be careful with Maxine…remember what we always agreed on? No matter what…"

"Maxine always comes first. Yes, I know, Alex." Justin finished her sentence.

Alex nodded, "Good…I was just making sure…we don't want her to know about…well yeah. She's getting older too…we're going to have to tell her one day."

"We will." Justin sincerely replied, but went on, "Just not now. She's not ready…_we're not ready_."

Justin left and Alex shut the door behind him. She took a deep breath as she allowed everything she just learned soak in. She called out, "Maxine! We're going to have dinner in a little bit, okay?"

Maxine was now more curious than ever. She desperately wanted to know what went down between her parents. She needed someone to talk to….and who listened the best? Her uncle.

Uncle Max.

Maxine maintained a very close relationship to her uncle. Whenever she needed something, she could always depend on him- which was quite surprising to her because her parents always told her horror stories of him when he was younger. They shared a special connection, although Max thinks it's because they practically share the same name. Apparently Max convinced her parents to name their daughter after him. Weird, huh? But whatever, Maxine liked it.

Maxine ran downstairs and immediately asked, "Mom, can I go see Uncle Max?"

"Hmm I'm not sure…"

"Please? Maxine pleaded.

Alex slowly began to nod, "Actually good idea…why don't you run over there and invite him over for dinner."

Maxine smiled, "Yes!" She grabbed her jacket off the coat rack and ran outside towards her uncle's apartment. He lived just one block away, which was quite convenient for them. It was nice to have a family member so close- it also meant that Maxine could visit him whenever she felt like it.

Maxine finally arrived and Max opened the door. "Hey! Look who's here! My favorite niece!"

Maxine smiled, "Or your only niece…"

Max raised his eyebrow, "Hey, you're outsmarting now, aren't you? Come on in!"

Maxine followed her uncle into his small living room and sat down on the couch. Max offered, "Do you want a drink, Maxine?"

Maxine shook her head, "It's okay, Uncle Max."

Maxine shrugged, "Alrighty then…so what brings you here?"

"I overheard my parents talking and…"

Max sternly began, "Maxine, you shouldn't be listening to your…" He paused and then smiled, "Whatever….so, what did they say?"

Maxine loved how laidback her Uncle was and explained, "They keep talking about something that happened in the past…something that made them split. But they haven't come said it directly yet."

"Well, did you ask them to tell you?"

"Duh! Don't be silly! I ask that question so much…and they keep their mouths shut. Do you know what happened?" Maxine's eyes sparkled with interest.

Max truthfully shook his head, "Maxine, you may think I'm lying, but I'm not. I'm going to tell you now that I honestly don't know anything that happened between your parents. I've tried so hard to remember the time they split and everything, but it's all very secretive. They just split…"

Maxine sighed, "Yeah…that's all I know too. But don't you think I should know what happened?"

Max sighed, "Well…"

An idea popped inter her head and she immediately exclaimed, "What about magic? That can help me, right?"

Max chuckled, "Whoa, slow down, Maxine…_magic? _You want to use _magic?_"

"Well, yeah…I think I can use it to help me find out what happened."

Max's whole expression lit up too, "Alright! Let's do it! I think we deserve to know what happened."

"Yeah!" Maxine agreed.

Max replied, "So uhh…_magic?_"

Maxine nodded, "I've been thinking about this for awhile now. What if I used a time spell?"

Max looked confused, "Uhh…the Mcreary Timereary spell? Maxine, I hate to say it, but I don't think that's going to be much help…"

"I know that, silly!" Maxine laughed.

Max raised an eyebrow, "That's the only spell….and plus, you're still a wizard in training. You shouldn't really know much more than that…"

Maxine nodded, but explained, "I was reading some of Dad's old books…those fat ones he has on the shelves. I'm not really supposed to touch them unless I was desperate…and I'm _so _desperate."

Max nodded, "But I've never used a specific spell before and…"

Maxine nodded, "I know…but I learned that you time traveling depends on the individual. If I want to go back in time, I need to create a spell myself."

"Hold your horses, Maxine. I don't think I can let you do that…"

"But you said…"

Max explained seriously, "Time traveling is one of the most dangerous and unstable uses of magic. I don't even know if there's a way to come back or if you can be tracked…the biggest consequence is changing the future. You're young, Maxine and this is extremely dangerous."

"Then come with me." Maxine suggested.

"No, no…I can't. This is all you, Maxine."

Maxine was so determined and decided, "I want to do this, Uncle Max. I need to figure out what my parents aren't telling me."

Max saw the look of perseverance in her eyes and couldn't help, but give in. He sighed, "Okay, I'm going to let you try this- because you're my favorite girl in the world."

Maxine smiled widely, "Alright!"

Max smiled weakly, "Maxine, you must be very careful though. Promise me that, okay?"

"Of course."

"Being careful means you must not reveal anything about the future or your personal identity unless it is extremely important- like your life _depends _on it. Okay?" Max instructed.

Maxine replied, "Right…how long do I have?"

Max sighed, "I don't know…time traveling is weird that way. When you go to a different period of time, your reality is frozen. When you come back, you should return to the same place you left."

"Ohh…okay. Where do I go?"

Max shrugged again, "Again, time traveling is crazy. Even if you specify in your spell where you want to go, it has the potential to take you somewhere else."

Maxine nodded, "Okay, I think I understand…"

Max sighed, "Okay, have you thought of a…"

Maxine nodded, "Yup! I've been thinking about this for awhile, remember?" She pulled her wand out and exclaimed her self-made time spell.

"_Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Secrets now, Secrets then, please show me what happened between my dear parents!" _

**Alright! And the time traveling commences…! This is just the beginning…XP So again, remember that I'm not necessarily following what the "real Maxine" does on WOWP. It's just my own imagination. **

**However, look at a new still from the upcoming episode. It's on my profile page. Doesn't it just fit perfectly with this story? **

**Seriously the sweetest thing I've seen in a really long time! **

**Don't forget to comment/review **


	4. Indefinitely

**Sorry for not updating…but on the bright side, I'm done with finals! So hopefully you'll see more updates…maybe even another one by tomorrow **

Maxine felt herself being whisked away and her surroundings becoming a blur, but within moments, she felt herself standing completely still. Her eyes opened instantly and right in front of her were her parents. _Yes! She did the spell right…well, at least her parents were there. _

However, before Maxine could take in any more of her surroundings, Alex smiled mischievously and said, "Uh…we might've accidentally turned you into a little girl."

Maxine was a bit confused- wasn't she supposed to be "a little girl?" Knowing her mother was probably fooling around, she exclaimed, "What?"

"Don't worry about it! I'll change you back!" Justin replied confidently.

Maxine was getting confused as seconds passed. Change her back to what? She watched her father say some words and point his wand at her…_whoa, what? _Her father was a _wizard? _

Maxine's thoughts were interrupted as she realized she was glowing. She looked at her parents, who seemed dumbfounded.

Alex lied, "There you go! You changed back!"

Her father nodded, "You…you really do look great. You do…the spell worked and you look good."

Maxine smiled and played along with whatever her parents were trying to accomplish, "Thank you?" She had always been dramatic and realized they were probably playing some sort of game. She continued, "You know, I thought I was going to be stuck like that…" _Whatever that meant…_

Maxine was about to take a step forward to hug her parents, but realized she had changed clothes…"Wait…why are my clothes so baggy?" Maxine paused and examined herself. It was her, but she started to hallucinate…were those really her _hands? _She asked, "Why do I have dainty little hands? Why is my voice so high?"

Maxine looked up at her parents for an answer. She was probably perfectly fine, but she felt different- maybe that was the effect from time traveling. All of a sudden, her father looked at her mother with a look of trouble and worry. They both used their wands to flash themselves out of the room.

Maxine was about to lunge forward and her voice faded away, "Mom! Dad…" She quickly looked around the room…she had never been here before. For a brief moment, Maxine felt scared and lost. She had no idea where she was and where she was supposed to go next. She took out her wand and shrugged happily, as she was extremely excited to discovering the past. She exclaimed, "I'm sure I'm fine!"

She lands in the substation briefly after Justin and Alex arrived

Maxine smiled as she recognized her surroundings. It was her grandparent's substation- and her favorite place to eat.

All of a sudden she heard a voice explain, "Ahh! What? Little girl…there…behind you! Ugh…Alex!"

Alex distinctly defended herself, "Why do you always blame things on me? Uhh…wait…what girl?"

"Behind you!"

Justin and Alex turned around and faced their "sister" now. They looked at each with looks of trouble. Jerry and Theresa came around the corner and stood next to them.

Maxine loved seeing such familiar faces- all she wanted to do was run up to each of them and give them hugs. However, she remembered what her Uncle Max warned her about and she kept quiet.

"Uhh…hi, my name is Jerry. You must be a young wizard…are you lost?" Jerry introduced himself.

Maxine looked at him awkwardly, "Uhh….yeah, but I'm actually…" Maxine caught herself before she said anything about her identity. Honestly, she actually liked the mysterious feel that came along with time traveling.

Meanwhile, Justin and Alex were trying to come up with ways to cover up their mistake. How were they going to tell their parents that they turned their little brother into a little girl?

Justin sighed, "Mom, Dad…"

Maxine's head shot straight up- her Dad never really called her mother's parents "Mom" and "Dad." Apparently, her father's parents died when he was young and he got used to calling them that ever since he was with her mother. But ever since the divorce, he stopped calling them those names. Well, that told her another thing about the current time period=- her parents were, in fact, together. Maxine had always dreamt about the day she would see her parents get along- like a normal couple. She was liking this past more and more.

Theresa looked at her two eldest siblings and asked, "Where were you guys?"

"Uhh…just out…" Alex muttered.

"Have you guys seen Max?" Jerry asked.

Justin scoffed, "Uhh…_no!_" Alex rolled her eyes at him- it was a shame to have such a horrible liar as a brother.

Jerry raised his eyebrow, "Okay…I'm sure he'll be home soon." He turned his attention back to the little girl before him. "Sweetie, do you need to call anyone…or something?"

"Uhh…I…umm…"

Before Justin and Alex could interrupt, Theresa noticed something, "Hey…what an interesting shirt you have…my youngest son has the same one! You know, it's funny, he was wearing that today and…"

Justin and Alex nervously looked at each other- a bit anxious, but also ready to burst into laughter due to the craziness of the situation. Jerry finally understood what was going on and guessed, _"Max?"_

Although this past was fun and all, Maxine had a hard time keeping up with the changes in her so called family and could barely keep track of her own lies. Why did they call her "Max?" First off her, her name was Maxine…but it seemed like she wasn't even part of this time period yet. Oh wait…Max…was she in the body of her _uncle? _Oh God…awkward.

Jerry exclaimed, "What did you two do?"

"We accidentally changed Max into a girl…" Justin admitted.

"You did _what?_" Theresa exclaimed, moving closer to Maxine.

Jerry angrily stated, "I can't believe you turned your brother into a _girl_? Change him back!"

"Uhh…that's kind of the issue…" Justin rubbed the back of his neck. He then mumbled, "I can't."

"What?"

"Oh Max…" Theresa hugged Maxine.

Yup. Her suspicion was confirmed- she was apparently "Max", her uncle. Maybe she did botch the spell and replaced her uncle- she was thinking of him when she said the spell too. It looked like she would just have to play along. "Well...uhh…how would you change me back?"

Justin shrugged, "I don't know…come on, guys, follow me in the lair."

Maxine followed her family into the kitchen- _where were they going? _She saw her father open the freezer door and everyone followed him inside. Maxine followed as well and before she knew it, she was standing in a brand new room.

Justin walked over and picked up a book while Alex plopped down on the couch. Maxine sat on a chair as her grandparents stood behind her. Theresa murmured, "Is there a way to fix this?"

Jerry nodded, "Uhh…I'm sure."

Maxine looked around, realizing that she was most likely in their lair. Why didn't she ever see this before? Her uncle had won the family competition since her mother married her father, who was a mortal. Well, he was actually a wizard now….

Justin interrupted as he read from a book, "Okay, so apparently when Alex and I did our spells, they collided and formed a mutant spell. But, there's a test here to determine how long until the spell wears off."

Maxine cringed at the word "test." She was intelligent, but just like her mother, she sometimes didn't try hard enough and made stupid decisions. She hated taking tests. "A test? I usually have time to study before I fail!"

Justin walked over to Maxine and handed her an object, "Blow into this spell detector."

Maxine took the weird looking horn into her hands and blew hard. Suddenly, a donkey honk was heard throughout the room. She was a bit surprised by the sound and quickly glanced at her mother- who was just as startled and did her best to keep herself from laughing.

With a look of confusion plastered on his face, Jerry asked, "Well, what does that noise mean?"

Alex chuckled, "Well, she may be a little girl, but she definitely has Max's donkey breath."

Justin read more of the book before him and said, "Okay, so if it's a church bell, then it means the spell will last four days…and…if it's uh, uh…a drum roll, it's one week. And if it's a donkey honk, it's uh…" Justin paused before murmuring, "Indefinitely."

"It looks like you'll be stuck like this for awhile." Jerry looked at Maxine and put a hand on her back."

Maxine was about to say something when she noticed her mother laughing to herself and walking towards her. Oddly, her mother bent down and faced her straight in the eye. With a stern voice, she instructed, "You stay out of my closet."

Maxine didn't really care much about what her mother just said because she was too busy figuring out what was going on.

Number one- _No one recognized her…which meant the spell must have taken her back farther than she expected. _

Number two- _To herself, she was Maxine. But to everyone else, she was her Uncle Max…she probably said the spell wrong. _

Number three- _Her father was a wizard…say what? He told her he was a mortal, who just knew about magic. _

All this was already so confusing and she had a feeling things would get worse. But there were certain questions she just _had _to answer. _Why did time send her all the way back to when her parents were practically teenagers? Before she was even born? Why did her father have powers? But most of all, what will happen to split up her parents? _

It seemed like she was sent to this place in time for other reasons besides finding out what happened between her parents.

Well, she _was _stuck here indefinitely.

**Don't forget to review! :P**


	5. And The Truth Is Revealed

**Thanks for all the reviews, everyone! I really appreciate it- hope you like this chapter :)**

Maxine quickly put on some clothes that her Grandmother had given her- she had said they used to be Alex's clothes. She headed downstairs for breakfast- to find everyone already eating.

"Aww…look at my beautiful little girl!" Jerry stood up and walked over to her.

Maxine smiled as Theresa walked over as well. Jerry asked, "Theresa, where did you get these clothes?"

"I found them in old boxes! Aren't they just perfect?"

"Of course!"

Alex cleared her throat from the dining table, "Uhh…excuse me. Let's all be reminded that _Max _is _not _a little girl."

"Well, he is now." Justin snickered before receiving an unnecessary punch by Alex. He glared at her.

Alex rolled her eyes and continued, "Seriously, guys, what are we going to do about this?"

Jerry ignored her completely and asked Maxine, "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Come over here…have some breakfast. Your mother and I need to leave, but we'll be back later, okay? Justin and Alex will take care of you. Don't worry." Jerry said before leaving with Theresa.

Maxine nodded in agreement and continued to eat her breakfast. Without thinking, she looked at Alex and asked, "Mom, can you get me some milk?"

Alex slowly lifted her eyes off the magazine and stared at Maxine with confusion. "Did you just call me _Mom?_" She asked in disbelief.

Maxine realized her mistake and she stuttered as she began to lie, "Uhh...y...yeah…I…"

"Max!" Alex yelled.

Justin snickered and commented to himself, "Alex was mistaken as _Mom. _Hah!"

Unfortunately, Alex heard him and gave him another punch to his arm. Justin yelped as he held his arm in pain. "God, will you stop doing that?"

Alex ignored him and continued to glare at the little girl before her. "Max, why did you call me…"

Maxine quickly interrupted, "My bad. It was a mistake…but still, can I have some milk?"

Alex continued to read her magazine and mumbled, "Justin will get it."

"No I won't."

Alex demanded. "_Yes you will." _

Justin was a bit scared by her tone of voice and quickly got out of his seat to hand the carton of milk to Maxine. He sighed, "Next time, you get it, Max."

"Thanks…" Maxine eventually finished her breakfast and once she did, she asked, "Justin, are you always around like this?"

"Like what?" Justin looked bewildered at the question.

"You always seem to hang out around here too much….don't you ever go home?"

"Max, what are you talking about? _ I live here. _Jeez, did we misplace your brains too? Well, it's not like you had any in the first place either." Justin scoffed.

"Justin, I don't see why you're so confused Max is asking these types of questions." Alex commented.

"Hey!" Maxine shouted before realizing that none of this was making sense. Her father lived with her mother's family since they were young? She decided it was best if she didn't really ask about it.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Maxine asked.

Alex looked back at her "brother" and replied, "What do you mean _we? _We usually do our own things, Max. You're off doing something stupid, I'm usually on the couch, and Justin is usually being a nerd."

Justin was too lazy to think of a comeback and reminded Alex, "You're hanging out with Harper today, don't you remember?"

"Oh, right that, but Zeke is going to take her to some clogging event. We don't have anything specifically planned."

"Well, when Zeke and Harper come back from their date-type thing, we can all go see a movie." Justin said.

"May I come?" Maxine asked.

"Uh…no? You hate coming with us. Besides, you prefer being alone." Justin stated.

"Ohh…right. Uhh….I'll be in my room then." Maxine headed upstairs.

Maxine headed towards her room, which was like a pig's pen. Instead of going there, she decided she would snoop around. She headed to Alex's room first, which was also quite messy- like it was back in the future. Her mother was one of the most unorganized people she knew, but somehow, she was still able to get things done. Clothes were on the floor, makeup was scattered all over her dresser, and her bed wasn't even made. Maxine then noticed some pictures on her dresser and walked over to look at them closer. Most pictures were of her mother and Aunty Harper, but then there were a few family ones. There was one of the whole family- including Justin. Then there was another one of her Uncle Max, her mother, and once again- Justin. She then looked at the smallest picture on her dresser- it was of her mother and some guy she had never seen before. Her mother had her arms wrapped around him as she wore some glowing heart necklace. Maybe it was her old boyfriend?

Maxine then moved on to her father's room, which was the exact opposite of her mother's. Everything was so tidy and put together, but she also noticed some pictures hung up on his wall. There was a picture of her father and Uncle Zeke holding a trophy for some science fair- no surprise there. Her father _adored _science. Maxine moved on to the next picture- it was of her father and this blonde chick. It didn't take long for Maxine to realize it was Juliet. The photo was engraved with "Justin and Juliet: Prom". _Juliet was her father's girlfriend when they were young? No one ever told her that! _But unlike the pictures in her mother's room, Maxine realized that her father had more pictures of family. There were a few pictures of the whole family, there were some of him and her Uncle Max, and then there were some of him, Uncle Max, and her mother. They were all great pictures, but it made Maxine wonder…_Why was he always around her mother's family? It's like he was living with them ever since he was little! Were her parent's childhood friends as well?_

Maxine was ready to leave his room when something caught her eye- a picture frame on the floor. Realizing it must've fallen off the wall, Maxine picked it up and just stared at the picture in her hands. It was of her mother and father. The picture seemed fairly old though- as it was labeled with 2009. But she had never seen this picture before. Her father was laughing as her mother rested her head on his shoulder, also with a big smile on her face. Maxine traced her parent's figures in the photo, realizing how much she wanted them together. And at this point, she felt like she had done nothing to help them get together again. Back in her future, her parents barely spoke and ignored each other's presence. And now, her teenage parents seemed to bicker all the time and not even show any affection or love towards each other. She was trying to fix it, but it was all too difficult to understand.

Maxine headed downstairs to the substation. Her grandparents were back and she noticed her father waiting tables. It looked like people were coming in for lunch. Her mother called her.

"Oh hey, Max, it's your turn to clean the fryer. Get on it." Alex ordered.

Hearing her mother's instructive voice, Maxine automatically responded, "Fine."

But her Grandpa stopped her and looked at Alex, "Oh…Alex…he's just a little girl…you do it."

Maxine loved getting out of chores, so she agreed, "Yea! I'm a little girl. Oh, I can't clean a fryer. I can't probably do a lot of things anymore….right, Daddy?" She turned towards Jerry, making sure she was doing the right thing.

Jerry smiled, "Ohh…."

Justin walked past Maxine to face Alex. He realized, "He's doing to you exactly what you used to do to me. Hmm…looks like the little girl shoe is on the other foot…and it fits well!"

Alex look hurt and speechless, but ended up saying, "Alright, Harper, let me go teach you how to clean the fryer."

Harper asked, "Wait, why me?"

"Because I'm too busy being _jealous!_" Alex stormed off with Harper right behind her.

"See, Max, it's not so bad being a little girl…it got you out of doing your chores. So what do you want to do next?" Jerry asked.

Maxine shrugged and thought for a second. She remembered her Uncle Max saying that he did karate when he was kid and she did as well. Karate sounded like fun at the moment, so she suggested, "Well, I want to go to my karate class…but I can't go down there with these little hands. I mean, they look like they belong on a squirrel!"

Jerry replied, "You can still go down. Just tell them you're a new student. Uhhh…Justin will take you!"

"Oh no…I…I…can't, Dad, that's a bad part of town. Not a good idea." Justin shook his head.

Maxine noticed the name calling again…weird. But she replied anyways, "Seriously, Dad…uhhh dude?" She was lucky to have caught herself again, but couldn't believe what a wimp her father was. She rolled her eyes, "Come on, I'll hold your hand if it makes you feel better.

Justin retorted, "Well, you don't need to hold my hand, little miss, because I have a panic button on my key chain!"

Jerry glared at him and motioned towards the door. Justin sighed, "Alright fine, I'll take her. Let me just talk to Alex real fast."

Justin walked over towards Alex and Harper, "Hey."

"Oh hi, Justin!"

"Hey, so Alex and I was thinking- maybe when you and Zeke come back from your clogging event, we can go see a movie." Justin suggested.

"Oh, that sounds great! I'll let Zeke know…what movie?" Harper asked.

"The Living Nightmare." Alex simply stated.

Harper sighed, "Alex, do we really have to see a horror film?"

Justin nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Alex…I agree with Harper. Why can't we see a calm action movie or something? Or a mystery film! That'll be good."

Alex glared at Justin, "Oh please…that's for wimps. I see why _you _would want to go."

"Hey! I just don't want to see some stupid movie about corpses!" Justin defended himself.

"That's because you're scared! You'll be trying to hide under your theater seat within the first ten minutes of the movie!" Alex insulted.

Maxine noticed her parents' voices rising- they were fighting…again. She was sick of hearing them fight in her future, so why should she hear it in the past?"

Harper walked over and greeted, "Hey, Max."

"Ohh…hi, Aunt…I mean Harper." Maxine corrected herself. She asked, "What's wrong with them?" She motioned towards her parents.

"They're fighting over the movie we're going to see later. Stupid, huh? It'll be over soon, they fight and forget about it later." Harper said.

Maxine sighed- her parents were a crazy couple. She realized this was the perfect opportunity to ask Harper some questions. She innocently asked, "So, how long have those two been dating?"

Harper looked at Max strangely, "Uhh…who?"

"You know…them!" Maxine pointed at her parents.

Harper's eyes went huge, "Dating? Max, have you lost your mind? Or did you just forget that they're your _siblings!_"

Maxine's jaw dropped as she was speechless. "Uhh…no..yeah….never mind."

Maxine decided to stay quiet so that she didn't make a mistake and say something stupid. But the question she asked was so innocent! She didn't know it would lead to such a secret! Strangely, everything began to connect and make sense. This explained why her father had powers, why he kept calling her grandparents "Mom" and "Dad", and why he lived with them.

Was this what her parents didn't want her finding out? Was this the reason why they split?

She just couldn't believe it. Her parents were…_siblings? _

The truth was finally revealed- or so she thought.

**Well….any thoughts on how Maxine will react towards her parents? **** Well, I'm going to try and connect the episode "Daddy's Little Girl" further along with this story. It'll be fun. Please review with your thoughts! **


	6. Cutest Little Nightmare

**Hey everyone! Thanks for reading and hope you continue to like this story **

The world seemed to have shut down as Maxine processed what she just learned. Oddly, it was all making sense. In some twisted way, this _was _the truth. It explained everything. This was why her father had powers, why he was even a wizard.

Was this the reason why she was sent back to this place in time? To find out who her parents really were?

But that was what bothered her the most. She thought she _knew _her mother and father. They wouldn't keep a secret like this from her…would they? They usually told her everything, besides the reason why they split…well, _that _problem must be connected to this then. If her parents were siblings, then how in the world were they together in her future? And why didn't anyone else seem to know about this whole situation? Grandpa Jerry, Grandma Theresa, and Uncle Max…they didn't even have a _clue _to who her father was!

Too many questions still left unanswered. But she was determined to figure everything out. She needed to know why this piece of information was so significant to her parent's break-up. These two issues just _had _to be connected.

_But something was still bothering her. _A rebellious, heated feeling stirred inside her. She wanted to hide herself from the rest of the world, but yet she wanted to be heard.

She was angry.

She was angry at time for putting her there. She was angry that she couldn't figure out what happened between her parents. She was angry that her parents _lied _to her.

Why did they hide their identities from her? Did they not love her enough to tell her the truth? Was another secret worse than this?

Maxine was angry and she wanted revenge. She jumped off the bar stool she was sitting on and headed upstairs, feeling a tear slip quietly down her face. But she felt an arm hold her back.

Justin motioned Maxine to follow him as he was finally ready to leave for her karate lesson. Maxine was just about to protest when she realized that she could use this to her advantage. She smiled sweetly and followed him- but they didn't even get past the door.

"Hey, Justin! What's up?" Zeke walked in. Noticing Maxine, he asked, "Who's this…uh…cute little girl?"

Justin exclaimed, "What cute little girl?"

Maxine looked up at him and glared. Justin corrected himself, "Oh! _That _cute little girl….well, uh…she's our cousin."

"From North Dakota!" Alex added.

Harper lied to her boyfriend, "She lives with us now."

Jerry added, "Because her…uhh…parents went on a long trip."

"To South Dakota!" Theresa chimed in.

Zeke looked at them weirdly and stated, "Okay…I just wanted to know her name."

Maxine glanced at her family around her. It made her sick to watch and hear them lie- just the way her parents lied to her. Someone had to tell the truth around here, so she replied with her name, "Max."

Justin immediately exclaimed, "-ine! Maxine is her name."

Maxine couldn't believe it. _This _was how she got her name? Her parents named her Maxine after the girl version of Max? Great…just great. She always wondered why she was named with such a girly name. Oh- and there goes another lie. She glared at her father, "Maxine? Come on! That's such a girly name!"

Justin glared back at her, "Yes. It is. For a _little girl." _He looked back up at Zeke and said, "We gotta go."

Maxine smirked to herself- she forgot she was supposed to be her Uncle Max. Well, it made her father angry- bonus point for her.

Justin practically ushered Maxine out of the substation, leaving everyone else to deal with Zeke. Eventually, they made it to her karate lesson.

Justin greeted, "Hello…meditating man."

"Shhh!" The instructor hushed.

Justin continued, "This is Maxine."

"Shhh!" The instructor repeated.

"She'd like to sign up for one of your classes."

The instructor replied, "In my dojo, we do not for sign class, we become the class."

"Class…there is no one here. Uhhh, regardless, can Maxine become…the class?" Justin mocked the instructor.

"Of course. After she proves she is worthy." The instructor turned around, "Please..take off your _shoes!_"

Justin stumbled off the mat. Maxine rolled her eyes, "It's a dojo, dude."

As he took off his shoes, Justin muttered, "Don't call me dude…whew! You still have Max's feet…"

Maxine knew how much her father hated being "unclean". She smiled, "Thanks for noticing my feet stink. I call it _fink." _

"My hours of meditation prevent me from smelling that…_fink._" The instructor added. "Now remember, Maxine, karate is not a way to fight, but a means to find inner peace as I have. Please demonstrate what karate is in you."

The instructor walked over to Justin and asked, "Would you mind helping?"

Justin paused before replying, "I…uh…I don't fight girls. It's not something I do."

_What a liar. _He always fought with her mom- not physically, of course, but still...Maxine prepared herself.

Justin said, "If you and I were to throw down…I know you got a black belt, but…"

Maxine didn't even wait to let him finish his sentence when she decided to kick him. Within a second, her father was on the floor. She felt satisfied.

The instructor praised, "Yes! A little girl kicking butt! Gotta love that!" He whispered to Maxine, "Let's see what else you got."

Justin was annoyed and yelled, "Where's your inner peace, meditation man!"

Maxine bent down to face her father, "And…I call this last move…" She was about to tell him it was payback for lying to her, but she said, "Payback for naming me Maxine"!

After a few more kicks and blows, Justin was sprawled out on the floor again. He exclaimed, "I don't know what's worse! The fink or the pain!"

After beating him up a couple more times, Justin dragged Maxine home. Maxine didn't mind leaving so early though…she got what she wanted. She pushed her father out of the way and ran up to her grandfather, who was eating a sandwich.

Remembering she was Max, she exclaimed, "Guess what happened at karate today, Dad? I used my stinky feet to rearranged Justin's face! Smell his face!"

Jerry smiled, "Oh, there's nothing cuter than a little girl kicking butt!"

Justin interrupted, "That's what the Sensei said! What is so cute about that?"

Jerry left momentarily, leaving Maxine alone with her parents. She was already getting on her father's nerves, so it was time to bother her mother as well.

She simply stated, "You know, I can't help it if people think I'm cute!" She smirked, "Watch how I make it work for me…"

Jerry walked back in and Maxine pushed the chair back for him, "Soo…_Daddy_…do you want to take me out for some ice cream?"

Jerry nodded, "Sure! I'm not doing anything."

Alex immediately protested, "Uhh..uhh…but Daddy, you didn't finish this very delicious sandwich I made for you."

Jerry replied, "Oh…I lost my appetite…it kind of smells like Justin's face in here."

Maxine watched Alex's expression drop as something hit her. Her mother was _jealous. _This was great! She would make her mother even more jealous! Jeez, her parents were making this way too easy for her.

The next day, Jerry and Theresa took Maxine to another karate lesson. Maxine didn't mind because it gave her time to release her anger and thing to herself. She was almost done with her lesson and got some water, but heard familiar voices throughout the room.

Maxine turned around to find her parents right behind her. She asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We rushed over here because we think we have a way to change you back." Justin explained.

"Really?" Maxine sounded surprised. She wouldn't mind if she changed back, meaning she would probably return to the future. But she had a really ugly feeling that it wasn't going to work…well, it was just another thing to see her parents screw up on. She replied, "Okay, let's do it. Cause Mom wants me to get my ears pierced later…and I'm starting to like the idea."

Her parents took out their wands and said the same spells, except in reverse. Maxine didn't feel much of a change, but noticed her parent's disappointed expressions.

Alex whined, "No…this can't be…"

Justin sighed, "We made it worse!"

Maxine looked at her reflection in the mirror and exclaimed, "Pigtails? Lollipop? You didn't change me back! You made me cuter!"

Maxine turned back around to face her parents and sternly said, "Get ready…because _Maxine_…is going to be your cutest nightmare…_ever!_"

Maxine walked back out, but instead of fighting one of her usual opponents, she requested to fight one of her parents. Naturally, her mother pushed her father onto the mat. He didn't even have much time to protest because she began sparring him.

The first round, Maxine beat her father with great enthusiasm and drive. However, something happened and her father fought back. Within minutes, she was now the one on her back.

Justin exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen! That's a little something I like to call a ka-ra-te!"

Everyone seemed to be shocked at what Justin did and the Sensei eventually chased him out of the room- serves him right, Maxine thought.

Theresa rushed to her side with Jerry right behind her, "Maxine! Honey, are you okay?"

Jerry remarked, "Oh…she's still a little groggy. Wait, hand me one of her shoes."

Maxine smelt the sickening aroma of "fink" and immediately scrambled up, "I'm good!"

Jerry helped her up and his expression brightened, "She's okay, everybody! She's okay!"

Maxine smiled, but then heard her mother mumble nonchalantly, "I'm glad your little girl is okay…"

Her mother left immediately, leaving Maxine a bit guilty for what she had done. But who cared? It was her fault for hiding things from her.

That evening, Maxine sat in her- well, Max's room and thought about her situation. To be honest, it _sucked. _This wasn't how she imagined things. She thought she would've traveled back in time, figure out what happened between her parents, and fix it- with a few minor obstacles along the way. She didn't think that things could get this complicated. She actually wouldn't have mind if she didn't know their secret.

At first, she was extremely mad at her parents for lying to her, but now that she thought about it, she was actually angry at the fact that they were siblings. It practically ruined everything she was supposed to do. How was she supposed to fix what happened between her parents if they weren't even together? Maxine was getting more upset by the minute and wanted to return to the future. Maybe she could figure everything out back at home.

Maxine went to the lair and looked in old books, but didn't find much about time traveling. She said a couple spells here and there, but each one failed. She eventually put her wand away and just cried. That's all she felt like doing- cry. She hated what was going on and just wanted everything to be what she was used to. She wiped her tears away, deciding she would try again tomorrow, and headed upstairs. But before passing their living room, she stopped- she could hear her Grandfather talking to her mother.

Maxine watched them talk, realizing how great their bond was together. She didn't know how much she "hurt" her mother- she wasn't the type to show her feelings often. After eavesdropping on them, she was ready to head to bed, but once she heard a certain voice, she stayed to listen.

"Hey…"

"Justin? What are you doing up so late?"

"Umm…I came to check on you."

"Well, Dad and I worked things out…we were just talking a few seconds ago." Alex said quietly.

Justin sat next to her on the couch, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I guess…It was just a shock to see Max as a little girl, you know? I've been so used to being the only 'little girl' in this place."

Justin smiled, "Well, you still are that girl. I'm glad you're okay though…and I promise we'll find a way to turn Maxine back into Max. We'll find a way together- maybe it'll help us move up in the competition."

Maxine knew her father was probably talking about the family wizard competition…which got her thinking- Since her Uncle Max won the competition and was a wizard in the future, this meant they lost. Did the competition have something to do with why they feel apart? But regardless to that question, Maxine liked seeing her parents together.

Alex had her head on Justin's shoulder and sighed, "Thanks, Justin…"

Justin smirked, "Wow…a thank you from Alex Russo? I only hear those once in a blue moon."

Alex giggled, "Stop making this moment harder for than it already is!" Their faces were inches away from each other when Alex continued, "But seriously, Justin…thanks. Thanks for always caring and making sure I'm alright. You know how much…I…uhh…appreciate it."

Justin nodded, "No problem…that's what a big brother was for." He hugged her gently.

_Brother. _Maxine wasn't used to hearing that word when thinking about her parents. It just only reminded her of the crazy situation she was in, but in another twisted way, she was reminded of her very first intention for going back to the past. It was her job, her expectation, to mend her parent's relationship.

Now, she had a whole other task- she wasn't just supposed to fix what happened between her parents (whatever that was), but she was also supposed to get them together in the first place…how was that going to work?

Right there and then, Maxine set all her anger aside to do everything in her power to bring her parents together. She had to be careful about what she wanted to do next- even if it meant not being the cutest little nightmare.

**This was a longer chapter than usual, but you guys deserve it! Thanks for sticking with this story! I love hearing all your feedback and if there are any questions or other comments, leave it in a review and I'll get back to you. **

**Just saying…can't wait to write the next chapter, so if you guys are lucky, I might have it done by tomorrow **


	7. Suspicious

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry for not updating- blame my computer -_- It decided to crash on me and I couldn't post anything. But it should be fixed now…so enjoy the chapter! **

"Do you guys want to go to the mall?" Maxine asked her two parents.

Alex nodded, "Sure, why not? I have nothing better to do. It's always fun hiding in clothes racks and scaring people.

"Okay, number one- stop hiding in clothes racks, Alex! And number two, I should prepare for tomorrow's tutoring lesson. I think I'll have to pass, Maxine." Justin replied.

Maxine frowned- she expected both of her parents to come. "Come on, Justin! Come with us!"

Alex grabbed her purse and headed for the door, "Don't worry, Maxine. Justin will be a party pooper if he comes."

Maxine ignored her mother's statement and pleaded, "Justin, please? Don't you have things you need to get?"

Justin thought for a second and then nodded, "Actually, yes. I really need to get a new pair of sneakers. Mine are getting old."

Alex yelled, "So are you coming or not? I'm getting older every second I wait."

Justin rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket. "Alright, let's go."

Maxine smiled in satisfaction. This was part of one of her many plans to get them back together. Ever since she realized they weren't together, she had her mind set on hooking them up. But of course, it was really hard because they don't really "like" each other and their brother/sister relationship is always in the way. Regardless, she tried to get them to spend as much time together as possible.

The three of them finally arrived at the mall. It took an hour for Justin to find his pair of shoes, which bored Alex to the core. Once he finally paid for the shoes, Alex was ready to sprint off.

Maxine exclaimed, "Alex? Where are you going?"

"Anywhere _without _you two! You guys are so boring!"

Maxine protested, "But we should all stick together, right?"

"Maxine, I mean Max…don't you recall our outings together as a trio? We always split up." Alex explained.

Justin nodded, "Yeah, Max...we always go our separate ways at the mall."

"But…but…"

Alex sighed, "Why are you so concerned about us being together?"

Maxine made a compromise, "Fine…you guys can do whatever you like, but can we go to the candy shop first?"

Both Justin and Alex's expressions dropped. Justin complained, "Really, Max? Do we have to accompany you to that place? You always go by yourself."

Maxine resisted, "They won't let a little girl like me buy stuff….I need adult supervision!"

"Fine." Justin sighed and gave in.

Maxine added, "Also, can you guys stop calling me Max? It's probably confusing for people to hear that name since I'm a little girl now…and plus, it's getting me confused!"

Alex rolled her eyes and grabbed Maxine's hand, "Let's get going then, _Maxine!_"

Maxine smiled mischievously- she was forcing them to stay together. At the candy shop, Maxine picked out all her favorites and so did Alex. Justin said he never ate candy until Halloween. Maxine knew better though- back in the future, he ate a candy bar almost every day.

Maxine held her bag of candy in her hand. It was full of blue, yellow, and red jellybean, and chocolate covered gummy bears. "These are all my favorites!"

Justin made a face, "That's disgusting. First off, I can't believe you can even eat that much candy and second, who likes chocolate covered gummy bears?"

Alex added, "Wait…Maxine, you like chocolate covered gummy bears? You hate those! No one in the family eats them, but me. And you chose the same jellybeans that I did! This is my special combination of candy from this shop….don't you usually get licorice? I know for sure that I hate licorice and you love it."

Maxine stuttered, "Uhh…sure…ummm I guess these are my other favorites too. Maybe it's just a coincidence we got the same candy."

Alex sighed, "Whatever, Maxine."

Maxine knew the reason why they got the same combination of treats. It was because she learned it from her mother. She, too, hated licorice, but loved chocolate gummy bears. Whenever they went to the candy shop together, this was the combination they would get. Maxine wished she could tell her mother that…but yet again, that would probably put the future at risk.

"Okay, so do you two food junkies have enough?" Justin said impatiently.

Alex nodded, "Yup. Can we have twenty bucks?"

Justin shook his head, "Of course not! I'm not paying for your candy!"

Alex pleaded, "Come on, Justin!"

"No! I'm sick of your always getting your way. Pay for it yourself!"

Alex retorted, "I didn't bring my wallet!"

"You did that on purpose! You're just trying to get my money." Justin glared at her and paid for the candy since no one else could.

Justin remarked, "I don't know why you're so irresponsible, Alex!"

Alex chewed on a few gummy bears and snorted, "What did you expect?"

Justin glared again, "Will you just grow up?"

Alex stopped walking and replied, "Will you just _chill_?"

Justin raised his voice, "Well I'm getting tired of your childish and stupid ways!"

"It's just candy for God's sake!"

Maxine hated watching them fight, "Guys, calm down…it's okay."

Justin retorted, "You need to get a grip of your life, Alex. When are you going to start taking care of yourself?"

"I do take care of myself!"

"Then why am I always saving you!"

Alex rolled her eyes, "You know what? Let's get out of here and go home. I don't want to have to deal with you, so just shut up." She rushed off towards the car.

They eventually went home and the heated siblings stayed away from each other. Maxine realized her plan failed once again….just like all her other plans. She would be successful in getting them to hang out, but it always ended in some stupid fight. She was ready to give up, but then quickly decided she might have one more chance…

* * *

After a few days of nagging, Maxine convinced Justin and Alex to let her watch their tutoring class. She claimed it was "just for fun," but in reality, Maxine needed an excuse to get her parents together. Naturally, it wasn't easy. She watched her parents closely, but could never find a way to get together. Her father's tutoring class was really busy though because they were just notified about doing some wand drill together. Maxine saw this as an opportunity for her parents to work together, but then _a certain someone _just had to ruin everything.

"Excuse me, is this Justin Russo's class?" A young, beautiful girl walked in through their wizard portal, immediately catching the attention of Justin. She introduced, "I'm Rosie…your new student."

Maxine watched as her father's eyes widened and focused completely on her, "Alright, everyone, let's drop everything and get to know Rosie."

Maxine was getting a bit anxious for her father and what he was thinking, but then she looked over towards her mother, who just rolled her eyes in "disgust." Maxine thought she was just another new student, but she seemed to have a greater affect on the class. As days passed, Maxine became upset by Rosie's sudden appearance and how it threatened her parent's relationship. It was hard enough to get her parents to even talk to each out without insults…Rosie made things much worse. It made Maxine sick to see that her father was so smitten by Rosie. The only thing that kept her "content" was the fact that her mother seemed a bit bothered by the new student. She was agitated and always on the edge, especially during the tutoring class.

Maxine contemplated these thoughts for days. Her parents were supposed to be in love at this moment in their lives. According to the current date, she would be born in a year. Odds were against her...what would happen to her if they never got together?

A few nights later, Maxine headed towards the kitchen to get a glass of water. Unexpectedly, her father and mother were also in the kitchen. Her father was sitting on the bar stool, holding a piece of string and a rock in his hand while her mother stood over him- as if they were arguing…well, what a surprise.

Maxine noticed how silent it got the moment she arrived and how little distance her parents were from each other. She became a bit suspicious and inquired, "Uhh….what are you two doing here?"

"Uhhh…." They both stuttered before looking at each other with glares.

Alex muttered, "Nothing."

Maxine decided not to ask any more questions due to the awkwardness of the situation. She kept quiet and did what she did best. She walked off innocently, but since they were clearly lying, she eavesdropped on their continuing conversation.

"You have to kick her out!"

"Kick her out?" Justin sounded astonished.

Alex nodded and began to explain, "We're never going to pass this wand drill if she's in it! You're so _gaga _over her that you can't see she's bringing us down. Give her the bootsky!"

Justin stood up, "I'm not giving her the bootsky! All she needs is a little one on one help…alright? I'll work with her."

Alex retorted, "And who's going to work with us?"

Justin stared at his sister, finally realizing the point she was making. He nod, "I see what's going on…Alex, is she _bothering _you?"

Alex brought her voice down to a hush before replying, "What do you think, Justin!"

Justin snickered, "Look, you have nothing to worry about. She's a new student, that's all."

"And you're totally into her!" Alex whispered harshly.

Justin replied, "Exactly! That's the idea!"

Alex raised an eyebrow, "What are you saying?"

Justin brought his voice lower in volume, almost to the point where Maxine could barely hear what he said. "I'm doing this for us!"

Maxine understood pretty much everything her parents were arguing about until now. She was suddenly lost…what did he mean by that?"

Alex's voice also dropped in tone, "You think this will save us? Come on, Justin! We both know this won't work."

"How can u say that? It'll keep everyone distracted. It'll be good for _us._" Justin explained.

Alex shook her head, "No! I can already predict you'll fall for her! She's pretty and charming and absolutely flawless! Like _Juliet _all over again!"

Maxine wondered what that meant...

Justin looked her straight in the eye and murmured, "But you know she's not the girl I love."

Justin reached out, ready to place his hand hold on top of hers, but Alex jolted away.

She shook her head, "You're going to throw everything away that _we've _been working so hard on to get back in the competition for some girl you barely even know!"

Justin realized Alex was sidetracking from the main conversation so he panicked and replied, "I know her!"

"Good!...Cause I have no idea who you are." Alex stared at him with a flash of fury lingering in her eyes. She quickly headed downstairs.

Justin was instantly shocked by her statement and went after her. He exclaimed, "Alex, wait!" He followed her downstairs and grabbed her am, "Alex, please…"

Alex backed off and sighed, "I just need some time to think, alright?"

Justin asked, "At least tell me where you're going."

Alex ignored him and left without another word. Justin went back up to their living room and sat on the couch. He rubbed his head as he felt a headache growing. He hated when Alex did this to him. It made him really guilty whenever she was mad at him. And this time, she left. He became anxious as each minute passed without him knowing where she was. It was late at night and anything could happen in New York City. Would she be safe?

Maxine was startled by the sudden commotion and without thinking, she stood by her father and questioned, "Where did Mom go?"

Justin's head jerked up, not noticing the little girl in front of him. "Max! Uhh...I mean Maxine. Wh..at...are you...Mom is upstairs sleeping...where else would she be?"

Maxine realized she accidentally asked for her mother...meaning Alex. She corrected herself, "Oh right...umm I mean, where's Alex? She's not upstairs."

"Uhh...she went out." Justin said quietly.

Maxine raised an eyebrow, "At this hour?"

"Uhh yeah! She likes to leave around now." Justin lied.

_What a horrible liar._ Maxine bluntly stated, "I know you're lying."

Justin sighed and gave up, "Fine. You got me."

"Where is she then?" Maxine continued to nag.

Justin stood up abruptly and exclaimed "I don't know! She just left!"

"Why?" Maxine questioned him further.

"We had a fight."

Maxine had watched them argue, but she didn't really know why. Alex wanted to kick Rosie out of the class, but Maxine knew it was more than that. She asked, "What was your fight about?"

"N..nothing. Something stupid. You wouldn't understand, Maxine." Justin tried to shake her off.

"Yes, I would." Maxine persisted.

"No, you wouldn't! None of you would understand what I have to go through each day! My life wasn't supposed to head in this direction! Get out of here, Maxine! And leave me alone." Justin stood up abruptly and yelled.

Maxine had never seen her father so mad and distressed. She was actually a bit scared and slowly backed away. Justin noticed the fear in this little girl's eyes. Her big brown eyes made her look a lot like Alex- which made him feel guilty all over again. He just sighed and calmly ordered, "Just go to bed, alright?"

Maxine respected her father's orders and silently headed to her room, realizing that their situation was a lot more complicated than she thought it would be.

* * *

The next day, Justin wasn't himself. He was a scatter brain- constantly worrying over Alex. He couldn't seem to do anything straight. Throughout the day, he was slower than usual and made silly mistakes. He barely made it through the day before sitting at one of the substation tables facing the door. He stared at it as if Captain Jim Bob Sherwood was to walk in at any moment. Maxine watched her father as he waited and waited….she, herself, felt her eyes closing, but suddenly, the doorknob turned and her mother appeared.

Justin almost tripped getting up and ran up to her. Color returned to his face as he sighed in relief, "Thank God…you're okay."

Alex didn't even look at him and coldly replied, "I was out…just thinking."

Silence hung in the air for a couple seconds before Justin sheepishly asked, "And?"

Alex threw her hands up in the air and stared at him in disbelief. "What else am I supposed to say, Justin?"

Justin stuttered, "Well, I…thought….I care a lot about you and you know that. Maybe you…"

Alex cut him off, "Save it, Justin. You won't have the same feelings as soon as Rosie becomes more involved in your life."

"I'm not going to make it that easy for her! I'm not letting my guard down!" Justin retorted, not really wanting to talk about Rosie.

Alex shook her head and walked away from him. Justin caught up to her and pulled her against him so close that their bodies were barely touching. He took one look at Maxine, not really caring if she was in the room or not.

Justin whispered in Alex's ear, so that Maxine wouldn't hear. "I love you, Alex. You know that, right?"

Alex laid her hand against his chest, slowly pushing him away. She sighed and simply replied, "Yeah, I know…."

Justin watched as she ran away, once again. He wished they could've talked longer; she left him hanging. He knew better than to allow Rosie take over his life. He wanted Alex. He _needed _Alex. So how could she even think that he would fall for someone else?

That would be nonsense.

**I really hope you liked this chapter and like where the story is heading. I won't be able to update for a week because I'm going on a trip. I'm really sorry about that…and also for the fact that my computer died. -.- **

**Anyways, I still would appreciate it if you could review and leave your thoughts on my story ****Thanks!**


	8. Forever

**I'm finally back!...barely though. I went to Jerusalem for my trip and I'm so jetlagged and tired. **** But, I'm really excited to get this story going again. So hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Maxine could hardly catch her breath. She was caught in the middle of a huge whirlwind that seemed to have engulfed the infamous street, Waverly Place. It was pure chaos and craziness.

As predicted, everything began to fall once Rosie entered the picture. Her mother was right about Rosie having some sort of influence on her father, but she never knew it would get _this _far.

Her father's personality was changing day by day. Maxine knew it and so did her mother. They didn't think much about it and Maxine was afraid to ask, scared of what Alex's reaction would be. So she just waited…but she had a feeling that her mother knew something she didn't.

Alex barged into the substation, the doors flying open as she made her urgent entrance. Maxine turned around in her seat to face her mother's sudden outburst. Alex yelled, "Justin!"

"Go away! We're busy!" Justin smirked and ignored her, while holding on to Rosie's hand tightly.

Alex seemed determined and stated, "You're not too busy for this….Rosie's an angel of darkness. She's been deceiving you."

_An angel of…what? _Maxine thought to herself. She listened quietly- it was funny how they never noticed (or they just didn't care) about her presence whenever they conversed.

Alex stepped in front of Tina, defending her. She faced Rosie, "Just tell _my brother _who you really are."

Justin sounded clueless, "What is she talking about?"

"Justin…um…I wanted to wait to tell you until the time was right. I'm not the kind of angel you think I am. But that doesn't mean I don't care for you and I hope you'll still care for me." Rosie began to explain.

Everyone watched as Rosie took of her jacket, revealing a dark shade of black angel wings. Maxine knew that was definitely not good.

"I made wings white around you so you wouldn't judge me." Rosie said in a pleading voice.

The tension was extremely high in the room, but naturally, Alex chimed in, "Well he judges you now!"

Maxine couldn't help, but giggle to herself. Leave it to her mother to awkwardly break the tension in a room.

Alex continued, "Because you've done nothing than to make him act bad! So why don't you get to flapping those grungy looking wings back to the…..Dark Realm!"

"Fine…if that's what Justin wants." Rosie challenged Alex.

Maxine waited anxiously for her father's response…he knew better than to be with Rosie…right?

Well, she was proved wrong. Maxine's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as she watched her father engulf Rosie in a hug. Her mother was just as appalled, her mouth dropping wide open.

Maxine watched as her mother's eyes closed in disappointment. She was truly hurt and it looked like as if she were to cry.

However, Alex straightened up and stayed strong just to save Justin. She exclaimed, "Justin, keep up! She's an angel of dark-_ness_!"

Justin stared endlessly into Rosie's eyes as he replied, "Rosie, I don't care what type of angel you are…as long as we're together."

Rosie sighed in relief and smiled, "Ohh…it makes me feel so good or should I say…_bad!_"

Alex pulled Justin back towards her and pleaded, "Justin, stop it! Can't you see what she's doing to you? She's influencing you…you're not yourself!"

Justin ignored her and pushed her to the side. Maxine wanted to hit and scold her father, but she remained silent. Within minutes, the new "couple" left. Alex stared at the floor, not knowing what to do. She ignored everyone and quietly headed for her room.

About two days passed and Maxine was getting anxious. Her mother seemed to have given up and her father was fooling around with Rosie somewhere in the Dark Realm. Apparently they were in control of some "moral compass" and whatnot, which were disturbing the balance of emotions in the world. Everyone was snappy at each other and she herself didn't feel too "happy." But she knew deep down that she _must _fix what happened to her father.

Rosie rushed in, "Maxine!"

Maxine turned around, her expression fading at the sight of her. She spat, "What do you want?"

"I know you don't want to talk to me right now, but your brother is in trouble!"

"Isn't that your plan?"

"No, no." Rosie shook her head frantically. "Gorog, the leader of the angels of darkness, wants to destroy Justin! I didn't mean for anything like _this _to happen!"

"Wait…what?" Maxine listened closer.

"Just take me to your sister!"

"Oh…uhh right. Come with me." Maxine lead Rosie up to the lair, where she immediatly pleaded for help.

"Alex! I need your help!" Rosie exclaimed.

"Help? Whatever it is, I don't have time." Alex snarled while holding a bag. She explained, "I have a slumber party to go to. This bag of angry badgers and six obnoxious little girls are about to have a screaming contest!"

Maxine rolled her eyes. Her mother wasn't just doing this for "fun," she often worked herself off and pulled off the _worst _pranks whenever she was dealing with something hard. It was her way of hiding her true feelings- which meant isolating herself from the whole situation with Justin.

Rosie tried anyways, "Alex, your brother is being held by Gorog."

"Gorog?" Alex raised her eyebrows in interest.

Maxine heard her mother make another stupid remark and moved along the conversation, "Mom…uhh…Alex! Just listen!"

Luckily no one noticed her slip up and Rosie continued, "He's going to destroy your brother!"

Alex finally took things seriously and asked, "Then why did you bring Justin to him?"

"Because I didn't know that this was going to happen. I was tricked too, Alex."

Maxine listened too Rosie rant a little bit more until Rosie said something that caught everyone's ears. "I never expected to fall in love with Justin."

Alex's expression changed. She realized that this girl actually loved the dorky boy she wanted all for herself. She hated how he made her feel.

Rosie didn't noticed any difference and said, "I know there's some good left in you, Alex."

Being her rebellious self, Alex shot back, "No there isn't!" But then scrunched up her face in disgust, "Wait! Aghhh….there it is- a little piece of good, darn it!" She quickly headed to leave.

Maxine piped up, "Wait! Can I come?"

Alex stopped and looked at the little girl, "No, Maxine."

"Pretty please?" Maxine whined.

"No! If I'm going to handle this, I'm going to handle it _my way._" Alex insisted and left instantly with Rosie right behind her.

Maxine waited anxiously for someone to tell her something or to just return. Was her mother going to be able to save her brother? How long will it take? But even if everything works out and they save him, will he return to Rosie?

Meanwhile, Alex surprisingly made her way up to the so called "Dark Realm." She immediately found her brother and tried to convince him, "Justin, you're not an angel of darkness. You're a wizard- a good wizard…and you know in your heart that you don't belong here. Neither does that moral compass."

Justin seemed like a totally different person. He wasn't the person she knew and, ultimately, loved. Her heart stung at the sight of him and his persona. He replied sternly, "I'm not _leaving._"

Alex decided she had to motivate him and make him snap out of it somehow. She grabbed the moral compass and soon, everything turned into chaos. Justin fought her…how could he? He would've never hurt her before. She was doing her best to save him and he treated her like some enemy. How could she make him understand?

Suddenly, out of the blue, Rosie appeared. She shouted, "Justin! I'm so, so sorry for everything that's happened. I pretended to fall in love with you to carry out Gorog's plan, but along the way, you touched my heart. You made that love real."

Alex couldn't help but snicker. Rosie was the cheesiest thing she had seen on the face of the earth.

However, Justin looked at her sincerely and asked, "You love _me?_"

Rosie nodded happily.

Gorog encouraged, "Justin! Give it to me!"

Justin gave him one look before shielding the moral compass from him and changing the arrow back to good. He rushed over to Alex, who was waiting anxiously for him.

Alex smiled as she realized Justin came towards her. She began, "Justin…"

"Take this to the guardian angels. I'll be fine." Justin instructed, practically shoving the large metal object into her hands. He turned around back to Rosie.

Alex was taken back both physically and mentally. That was _it?_ He left her speechless- she thought he was coming to be with _her. _So she didn't obey his orders and just stood there, waiting to see what Justin would do next.

Luckily, Gorog and the rest of the terrible angels were weak due to the "good" in the world at the moment. So they were distracted.

Justin rushed up in front of Rosie and smiled. He embraced her and gave her a passionate kiss.

As a light shown down upon them and their wings becoming good/disappearing, Alex watched from the sidelines. She closed her eyes in pain as she witness her biggest nightmare come true. He left her.

Tina tugged on Alex, "Alex, come on! We got to get this back to the guardian angels before they steal it again."

Although Alex felt pain, fury built up inside of her. That's the way she worked. She hid her feelings by being completely harsh and ridiculous. She gave the compass to Tina and said, "Take it back yourself…I know you can do it. I just…uhh…need to talk to Justin."

Tina happily obliged and ran off. Alex stood there, her eyes still glued to the lovebirds.

Rosie smiled, "Justin, I love you."

Justin smiled and nodded, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alex's figure. He stepped away from Rosie and stuttered, "Alex…I thought I told you that I'll be fine."

Alex swallowed hard, trying to hold back her tears as long as possible. She whispered, "So this is why you snapped out of it all? For _Rosie_? Because you _love _Rosie?"

Justin sighed and u=rubbed his forehead, "Alex…it's not like that…"

Rosie seemed confused, but Alex needed to have this conversation. She pretended as if Justin and her were alone. She shrugged helplessly, "I shouldn't even be here! You, or Rosie, didn't even need my help. You would have been just fine _without _me here."

"Alex, that's not true. You helped…." Justin began.

"You love Rosie now…that's all that would've mattered. It still matters." Alex simply replied, feeling her insides fall apart. She was going to break.

"Alex, please…"

Alex cried, barely being able to say, "You…snapped out…of all of this because of Rosie. _For _Rosie. Not for me. I don't think it was ever for me."

"Alex, you mean a lot to…." Every sentence that came out of Justin's words seemed completely meaningless and broken.

Alex spoke softly, "You don't care enough…you couldn't even do it for _me. _I'm always going to be just your sister, huh?"

Justin wanted to run off after her. He knew that last statement meant more than it sounded like. But he didn't mean for her to think like this- why did she always take things the wrong way? He loved Rosie- he really did. But she wasn't his _soul mate. _She wasn't his definition of forever.

Being the gentleman he was, Justin took Rosie home and made up an excuse to not be with her. He let her down gently and Rosie understood. She was great. Maybe they'd still keep in touch. He watched as another girl slipped out of his life and unconsciously waited for another one to return- right through the wizard door in front of him.

Alex quickly congratulated Tina on her new set of wings. She wanted to be happy for her- after all, she was the real hero in all of this. But as soon as she returned, she felt everything stumble around her. Alex was hurt that he snapped out of it for Rosie and not her. He knew her better…she was his sister.

She was hurt that he ignored her in the first place, but she was even more hurt that he wouldn't snap out of it to save her.

Maxine rushed downstairs, hearing the door open. Seeing her mother, she hugged her. She was genuinely scared of what could've happened to her. Maxine tightened her arms around her mother, "You're home…"

When Alex didn't hug or reply back, Maxine knew something went wrong. Her eyes sparkled with fear as she asked, "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Yes…something happened." Maxine pressed to learn more.

"No, it didn't."

"Is Justin alright?"

Alex nodded silently.

"Then what happened?"

Alex didn't want to explain anything. She used the "little girl's" real name, "Max, just leave me alone, okay?"

"No!" Maxine insisted. "I need to know what happened."

Alex began to head upstairs to her room. Maxine shouted, "Alex!"

Alex turned around and quietly replied, "Look, there's not much to it. I saved Justin…he just doesn't know it."

Now what was that supposed to mean? Her mother was leaving everything out of the story.

Alex knew she wouldn't be able to think properly, so she took a walk in the wizard world. It was nice to separate herself from reality once in a while. But unfortunately, once she returned, she was instantly hit with it. As she walked straight into the lair, she stopped. Justin was sitting right there.

Alex approached him softly, "Justin…what are you doing still up? It's late."

Justin was surprised at her tone of voice. He was expecting the raging and disrespectful sister he was used to. "Aren't you…uhh…mad at me?"

Alex looked away…_really? Did they have to do this now? _She remained silent.

"Alex, speak to me."

Alex whispered, "I don't have much to say."

"When have you ever had _nothing _to say." Justin smirked.

Alex sighed, "Justin, I understand. It hurts. No, actually, it's _killing _me. But I understand. Maybe you being with Rosie is for everyone's good."

"It's not going to be that way, Alex."

"Justin! Stop trying to please me! It's okay, alright? I'll get over it…" Alex simply let words roll out of her mouth. She could barely convince herself of what she was saying.

Justin started, "I like Rosie…but"

"Yes, I know…and it's fine with me." Alex looked away, hoping Justin wouldn't notice the tear that seemed to have escaped.

But he noticed. He gently changed subjects to hopefully make her feel comfortable, since he knew he probably wouldn't be able to directly explain that he broke things off with Rosie to be with her. He began, "I stayed up because I owe you something." Justin reached over to pick up a wand and handed it to her. "I found it in Washington Square Park."

"A two headed dog had it." Justin chuckled at his own comical statement, "I'm pretty sure he didn't start out that way."

Alex couldn't help but laugh as she played with her wand. Even in times like these, he was still her everything. She hated the fact that she was going to have to get over her feelings for him. It was going to take a really, really long time. All she could say was, "Thank you."

Alex tried to continue on normally and asked, "What about your wand?"

Justin looked at his wand with curiosity, "I...uh…I'll find a spell to fix it…Look, that's not the point though. And I owe you something else."

Alex had no idea what he was about to do and stiffened as she watched him stand up and walk towards her. He whispered gently, "Alex, you're my _forever_."

She blinked a little bit, not expecting his sudden action. She felt his comforting and protective arms wrap around her body, sending small electric shocks throughout her body. She was definitely not prepared for this. It had been awhile since he was this intimate with her- touching, feeling…_loving. _Strong emotions vibrated throughout her body and she wanted more of this striking sensation. She closed her eyes and felt his breath upon her own, her lips waiting patiently for his.

And it happened. Just like that.

He _kissed _her. She savored the moment as her mind enjoyed the pure bliss and happiness. Her feelings took full control of her actions and she soon found herself returning such a passionate kiss. She gently clutched the back of his head as the kiss grew more and more intimate.

But all of a sudden, Justin pulled away and stumbled backwards. His eyes glazed over in utter fear and shame. Alex was surprised by his sudden reaction, but slowly turned her head in the same direction he was looking in. It was _Maxine. _

Maxine couldn't believe it. Her _parents _couldn't believe it. They were all speechless. Maxine seemed quite nervous about what she just witnessed, but then she felt the greatest feeling she had ever felt in her life. She wasn't used to seeing her parents act in such intimate and loving ways. She was used to the world where they hardly spoke to each other, so of course it was normal for her to feel this way. But she never knew it would feel this _special. _It was like something was complete. Everything seemed to fall in place right before her eyes. She finally did it. She _caught _them.

And her heart skipped a beat.

**I made this chapter a bit longer than usual because I have written for awhile. I'll do my best to update by I hope you all understand that lots of other things in my life have priority over this. Thanks for understanding- and reading! Hope you review ;) **


	9. Explanation

**Enjoy!**

Maxine felt her parent's stares burn straight through her, but for some reason, she couldn't look away. She opened her mouth to say something, but her father beat her to it.

Justin had turned pale and felt completely overwhelmed. He had never felt so scared in his life. He stuttered, "Max…we are...uhhh…we can explain."

Maxine muttered to herself, "I finally understand."

Justin didn't hear her clearly and anxiously asked, "What did you say? What….Max, I said we can explain. It wasn't what it looked like, we were just…"

Maxine just stared at the both of them. She remained in character, "Justin, Alex…I"

Being Justin, he could usually think of a way to make an excuse or create an escape plan. But this was different- very different. He couldn't escape from something as big as this. He turned to Alex, "What are we going to do?"

Maxine raised her voice, "Guys…I saw. You can't hide it from me."

Justin murmured to Alex, "He…Max…I'm using the memory spell on him."

Alex remained silent, slowly processing things through her head. She ignored Justin, but as he took out his wand, she grabbed a hold of his arm. "No. Don't."

Justin looked at her incredulously and nervously asked, "Alex…what are you doing? He _saw. _We can't…"

"I'm not stupid!" Maxine yelled suddenly. She hated the fact that they lied to her about being siblings, but now this? She was, indeed, ridiculously happy, but she wanted more truth. And she couldn't stand them talking about her like she wasn't even there.

Alex looked at Justin and muttered seriously, "Justin, you need to trust me on this one…okay?"

Justin reluctantly nodded, "Alright…I trust you…but what are you…."

Alex cut him off, "We need to tell him."

"Tell me what?" Maxine interjected.

Justin looked at him with fear and felt his body temperature rise. He shook his head vigorously, "No, Alex…I can't…"

Alex exclaimed in exasperation, "Justin, just stop and listen to me! I hate lying to our family…our family for God's sake! They deserve to know…starting with Max."

Justin's expression softened as he felt himself agree with his younger sister. He, too, hated holding secrets from his family. He finally agreed and nodded, "Alright. We'll tell him."

Maxine waited patiently until Alex began, "Max, we have to tell you something."

Justin added, "This is kind of unusual, especially because you're currently a girl."

Alex continued, "Okay, well…_Maxine…_.we…"

Maxine just cut to the chase, "You're together, aren't you?"

Justin sighed and reluctantly nodded. He pleaded, "Maxine, you're the only one who knows. Please don't tell Mom and Dad."

For some odd reason, Maxine felt herself become angry all over again. She retorted, "Isn't this _wrong_?"

"Max…"

"No! First, use _Maxine_…I'm already confused as it is. And you're siblings! You can't be together!"

Justin sternly replied, "Yes, we can. We're just…breaking a rule…"

Maxine, herself, was too young to understand the term "incest," but she just knew that this wasn't supposed to happen. "I can't believe you would lie to me."

Before her parents could get another word in, Maxine ran off to her bedroom so she could think.

_What the devil was going on with her life?_

She was a freakin' ten year old! She wasn't supposed to deal with these things…other kids her age went to school, hung out with friends, and were just _normal. _So why couldn't she be? Instead, she had to deal with magic. She traveled back in time to make things better, but it's like she couldn't get anywhere.

All she wanted was for her parents to get back together- _the right way. _They weren't supposed to be _siblings_. Well, everything was coming together though. This is why she never knew her father's "parents"- it's because his parents were her mother's too. But that didn't make sense. Why did everyone back home act as if they weren't brother and sister? Do her parentsknow that they're siblings? Something must've happened for them to have been able to be together for all these years.

Justin turned to Alex, "Great. Now what do we do?"

"I don't know…we can…."

Justin tensed as he replied, "She's going to tell! What are we going to do? We can't let Mom and Dad know…not yet…"

Alex silenced him, "Hey, calm down. She…uhhh Max is just a bit angry. But you know our brother- he'll come around."

Justin shook his head, "I don't know, Alex. Max can be…"

"Look, Justin, I'm going to go and talk to him. Everything will be fine." Alex said before leaving to find Maxine.

Alex walked to younger brother's room and slowly opened the door. She found the little girl sitting on her bed in silence. She slowly approached her, "Maxine…"

Maxine was startled by her mother's voice, but replied, "What do you want?"

"May we talk?"

Maxine ignored her, but Alex continued to talk anyways. "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but Justin and I were scared of what would happen."

"Why?"

"We're scared of what people would think."

Maxine shrugged, "They shouldn't think indifferently. Love is love, right? You and Dad…I mean I've heard from people that love is love…no matter what."

"It should be that way…but it's not."

"I guess I'm mad at you for hiding this from me, but you know, I really understand."

Alex smiled, "I know you do, Max.._ine._" She corrected herself. "I knew that you'd understand…you're so special to Justin and me. That's why I made Justin tell the truth to you…I hate hiding it from all of you. …You're the _only _one who knows."

Maxine smiled weakly, "Thanks for telling me."

"You deserve it."

Maxine hugged her mother tightly. She had always been close to her mother- she loved her Dad, but sometimes she felt like she was "second" in his life, especially with Juliet. She knew that probably wasn't true, but she always had a special connection with Alex.

Maxine was happy that they finally admitted this to her- at least she knew part of the "so-called" truth. But something else was supposed to happen because in the future, they were definitely _not_ together. Now, she just had to find out more…

**Thanks for reading…I'm finally on Spring Break so I'm going to try and update again later today…hopefully!**

**Please review!**


	10. Back to Maxine

**Helloooooooooo. I apologize for not updating, but lately I've been incredibly busy. However, it's also taken me awhile to fully plan where this story is heading. I have plenty of ideas, so I hope you continue to enjoy it Thanks for being patient!**

Now that her parents had "come clean," Maxine couldn't help but notice how intimate they were with each other. They showed such pure affection for each other and did a pretty good job at being sneaky. Her grandparents didn't suspect a thing. They held hands whenever possible, stared at each other for what seemed like days, and snuck in a kiss or two (or three) when they were alone.

Maxine loved it.

However, she also couldn't help but realize that she was a bit…useless. Her parents were together, they loved each other- all was good. So why was she there in that moment of time? If she wanted to find out what happened between her parents and what split them up, then why was she sent back to this time?

Maxine was confused and eventually shoved her thoughts to the side as she ran to the kitchen and entered their so called "vegetable freezer." She walked in, looking for her parents, but realized they were in the middle of their tutoring class.

As she was about to leave, not wanting to bother them, she noticed Professor Crumbs on the large screen ahead. She hadn't seen the old man in awhile, so she quickly greeted, "Hey, Professor Crumbs!"

The old professor turned his attention towards her as he asked, "Who's that adorable little girl?"

Maxine noticed how stunned her parents seemed to be. Alex quickly interrupted, "It's not Max! Cause' Max is a boy!"

Maxine saw her mother running towards her, eventually attempting to cover her with her wizard robe. She stumbled backwards.

_Subtle. _Justin rolled his eyes as he watched Alex make a fool out of herself. He thought of a way to distract the professor, so he pointed out, "Professor Crumbs! Your shoe is untied!"

The professor bent down, seeming to have "hurt" his back as Justin quickly shut the screen off.

Maxine folded her arms, "Where'd he go?" She thought for a moment before adding, "He'll know how to turn me back!"

Maxine realized that if she supposedly "switched places" with her Uncle Max, then if they could find a way to switch him back, then she would go back to the future…right? Just a thought.

Justin fumed as he exclaimed, "You missed him! Too late, too bad!"

Maxine realized that her sudden idea didn't seem too bad at all. She just shrugged, "Well…I'll just talk to him tomorrow when he gets here."

As she left the lair, Maxine felt pretty good about her impulsive decision. Maybe it would be good if she were to go back? Then she could go home and figure out how to _really _fix things.

For the next couple of days, Justin and Alex scrambled to find a way to turn Maxine back into Max. Maxine continued to play along, and each day she was more eager to see Professor Crumbs. When he finally arrived, Justin and Alex screwed up spells once again, turning the old man into a little boy. But Maxine didn't mind- they would find a way to fix it….that's what they did best, right?

Right. Within a day or two, they were able to make up some potion.

Alex rushed through the kitchen doors and out into the restaurant. She exclaimed, "Max! Drink this!"

Maxine eye-balled the funky drink before her. It looked like one of her father's dorky health drinks that he made her drink once in awhile…they were disgusting. She looked up towards her mother and scrunched up her face, "_What is it?_"

Alex scrunched up her face the same way her daughter did and retorted, "Since when do you care about what you drink."

Trying to stay in character, Maxine shrugged and agreed. The drink couldn't taste that bad, right? She replied, "Good point." She took the drink and drunk it all up.

As she gave back the glass to her mother, she looked at her strangely. After a few seconds of staring, Alex pouted in disgust, "It didn't work!"

Maxine didn't really think much of it at the moment, so she replied, "Is it burp juice?" She let out a large burp and smiled- she learned that from the best. It's one of the first things her mother taught her to do.

Justin came rushing out with little Professor Crumbs, who quickly ran away. Instead of going after him, Maxine thought to herself…she knew why those two made her drink that "juice." It was a potion! ….that didn't work. Sigh.

Maxine looked up at her parents, feeling a bit woozy. She started asking silly questions, "What year are we in again?"

Thinking he was just being plain old Max, Alex replied, "It's 2011, dummy."

Maxine perked up as something clicked in her brain. If the future she knew was in the year 2022 and she was sent to the year 2011, then she was supposed to be part of the picture soon. She was 10 years old- her parents needed to speed things along or she wouldn't…exist?

She quickly joked around, "So, guys…when's the wedding?" She winked at them.

Justin's eyes seemed to bulge out of his pockets, "The we..wedding? What makes you think that…"

Maxine innocently asked, "What? It has to be…because I….I…."

Justin started to chuckle, "Max, you've gotta keep this hush hush. A wedding….seriously? That's not even an option yet! Right now we're focusing on the present….which means finding a potion to change you back!"

"…Yeah, unfortunately, that doesn't really work…." Alex admitted.

"Way to go, Alex! He didn't change back! You must've left something out of the potion." Justin blamed her, getting caught in the moment.

Maxine decided to leave; she had a feeling this was going to turn into a fight or something, so she went to the school play rehearsal early.

Alex started feeling horrible- not _emotionally _horrible (of course, she was Alex Russo, she never felt bad)…but this was different. She was _physically _unstable. She hadn't been feeling good these last few days and at the moment, she wanted to vomit.

Alex spit back, "I know, I know, okay? I know what's missing!"

Justin raised his voice and glared, "_What?_"

Alex exclaimed, "A little support!" She felt like breaking down and crying. Instead of rushing out, she put her hand to her forehead and held back tears. Things were a bit too much at the moment. She got a sudden heat rush and picked up the leftovers of the weird potion. She lifted it up to her lips before it being taken away from her.

"Alex! No! You can't drink that…" Justin took it from her hands and tried to face her.

Alex looked away, "Justin, please just go away."

Justin sighed and calmed down, "Alex…I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get angry. I guess I just want to turn Maxine back into Max…that's all. I'm sorry…"

Alex looked up with a few tears in her eyes- why were her feelings all over the place? She shook her head, "Justin….it's okay. I'm just not feeling too well…."

Justin was alert, "Alex, are you alright? Do you want me to get something….like…"

Alex shook her head as she felt the room get hotter and herself becoming more light-headed. "Justin, chill. I'm just going to rest, so that later we can go to Max's play and figure out what's going on."

Alex left and Justin sighed as he just walked away. Later that evening, they attended Max's play. Alex hurried in and sat next to Justin, with little Crumbs beside her.

Halfway through the performance, Crumbs changed back- causing Alex and Justin to go into hysterics. First, they were lucky no one saw the transformation, but second- and most importantly, Maxine was going to change back too.

Alex watched as her father disappeared momentarily. She whispered to Justin, "What is Dad doing?"

Justin stayed silent and shrugged. He continued to wonder until towards the end, there was a sudden glow around Maxine.

Alex nudged Justin once more and tugged on his sleeve, "Justin! We've got to do something."

Justin's face turned pale as he was just about to jump up, awaiting some sort of anticipation. Great anticipation….

Maxine continued to sing, not even noticing the glow around her body. It wasn't until there was a loud noise, assuming it was some sort of explosion, that she paid attention to her surroundings….where was she? All she could see was the color white, but after a few moments a figure started to appear….

"_Uncle Max?" _

"M..Maxine…?"

"Uncle Max!" Maxine exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"I..I'm not sure…"

"How are you doing this?"

Max thought to himself before replying, "I don't think this is me….well, I've been trying to watch over you ever since you left through some spells I've created, but I only get a few glimpses of what's going on. I don't think I can even do something like this….heck, where are we?"

Maxine looked around. "I have no idea….Uncle Max, I've missed you so much!"

Max smiled, "Me too, sweetie."

Maxine had so many questions, "I don't know where to start! I have a question though…who took my place when I traveled back in time?"

Max explained, "You're actually still here….it's like you never left…"

Maxine raised an eyebrow, "Time travel can do that?"

Max shrugged, "I guess so…"

Maxine wondered, "Am I traveling home now? Is that what's going on?"

"Wait….what makes you think that? Did you say a spell or something to return?" Max questioned.

Maxine shook her head, "Not really…but Mom and Dad were trying to find a way to switch me back into _you._ Maybe their potion worked?"

Max smiled as he started to reminisce, "I remember that! Yeah, the answer is yes! I think their potion is working….you're probably coming home now."

Maxine smiled, "Awesome!"

Max was confused, "Wait, that doesn't make sense. Maxine….time sent you back when your parents and I were….teenagers?"

Maxine nodded and added, "Yeah, and you guys are siblings too!"

Max was really confused, "What are you talking about? Your mother is my sister….but not your father. That's not right…."

"Yes, it is! That's why I've been so confused lately and…"

Max shoved that thought aside and interrupted, "Maxine, I think time just switched things around. There's no way your father and mother were my siblings….then that makes everything so…_wrong._"

Maxine wanted to retort and prove that they were actually siblings, but she felt a strong force puling her…backwards? "Uncle Max! What's going on?"

"I…I don't know!"

"No! I don't want to leave…I want to go home with you!"

Max tried to comfort her, "I think magic has different plans for you. You need to allow it to do what it needs to do….everything will be fine. I promise."

Maxine replied, "Just in case I leave in a couple moments, I have one question left."

"Yeah?" Max asked.

"Everything I do in the past will change the future, right?"

"Yes, so be careful…"

"So then will my parents remember me going back in time to save them or not?"

Max shook his head, "The first few times a person appears in the past, people in the future usually don't remember anything. But if you appear more than two or three times, then they might remember bits and pieces. But you never know…."

Maxine replied, "Okay…thanks…I…."

However, before Maxine could finish her statement, she felt herself drift back and when she blinked...she was in the same exact position she was in a few moments ago.

Justin was finally interrupted by a sudden explosion- of confetti. He was startled and as confetti drifted away, both he and Alex expected to see their younger brother.

Wrong.

Absolutely wrong.

Their younger brother wasn't back…they weren't back to Max. They were back to…._Maxine._

Alex exclaimed, "_What?_"

Jerry and Teresa turned around, glaring at their two eldest children. Jerry whispered, "_You guys said it would work!_"

Alex was speechless…she was barely able to get some words out. "I..I…noo….it was supposed to work! IT worked on the professor…so why didn't…."

Justin sighed, "Magic is so unpredictable…"

Before their parents could reprimand them further, Mr. Laritate came storming on stage. "Mr. and Mrs. Russo! You were in charge of that confetti explosion, I assume? You two are so unfit to be on the decorating committee. Out now!"

Jerry and Teresa rushed out in embarrassment as the show abruptly ended. Meanwhile, Justin and Alex rushed up to Maxine. They asked, "What happened?"

Maxine looked up at their parents and decided it was best not to tell them about her little "meeting" with her uncle. She shrugged, "I don't know…there was an…explosion?"

Justin rolled his eyes at his younger brother's stupidity and took Alex by the hand, leading her out of the room.

Maxine just sat in the same position, wondering why magic interfered and made her stay in the past. Was she stuck there forever?

* * *

Many days had passed and Maxine wasn't the only one who was trying her best to return to the present. Justin and Alex were also doing their best to find solutions to get Max back, but they were failing miserably.

Justin couldn't fathom why he wasn't unable to find a solution- he and Alex were always good at solving problems together. They were working so hard, but they just couldn't seem to win against magic. Justin was already feeling guilty since Alex was beginning to get sick.

One morning, Justin walked up to her room, "Hey, are you feeling any better?"

"Uh…not really." Alex moaned in pain.

"Do you have a headache or something? Any major flu symptoms?" Justin asked with concern.

Alex shrugged, "I've just been feeling so crappy in the mornings…"

Justin cleared his throat, "Uhh…define crappy, Alex."

Alex rolled her eyes, "I'm just nauseous, Justin. It's funny though….I end up feeling better throughout the day. It's really just after I wake up."

"Huh…that's odd. Just get some rest then…maybe you're on the verge of getting something." Justin concluded.

"Whatever, doctor." Alex muttered as she continued to lie in bed.

After a few days, Maxine began noticing that her parent's relationship wasn't…uhh…normal? They usually spent time together and all, but lately, it seemed as if they were ignoring each other.

Maxine approached Justin, "Hey…why haven't you been hanging out with Alex lately?"

Justin shrugged, "She doesn't want to…she hasn't really been talking to me either."

Maxine expected more, "Soo…"

"What?"

"Aren't you going to talk to her?"

Justin shook his head, "Max..uhh, I mean, Maxine…don't you remember what it's like when Alex is sick? She's always moody…I don't want to mess with her right now."

Maxine replied, "I don't think she's really sick, Justin. I think she's hiding something."

"Nah….she wouldn't be because…uhh…" Justin became silent before looking up to watch Alex who was reading a magazine. She looked up as well, but the minute she caught his eye, she looked away.

Justin concluded, "Maybe I should talk to her…."

Maxine smiled, "There you go…"

Justin slowly approached Alex, but as soon as Alex saw him, she got up and headed out the door. Justin exclaimed, "Alex, wait!"

Justin ran outside and caught up to her, gently grabbing her wrist and turning her around so she would face him. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Alex looked away, "Justin, let me be…"

Justin was worried, "Did I do something wrong?"

"Uh…no."

"Then tell me what's wrong, Alex."

Alex remained silent. Justin urged, "Alex, please don't do this to me. I feel like you're hiding something from me."

Alex slowly whispered, "You won't get mad, right?"

Justin was really worried now and replied sternly, "Alex…what's going on? Tell me, please."

Alex took a deep breath and murmured, "I'm pregnant."

Alex watched as her own brother stumbled backwards- thanking her lucky stars that he didn't faint. She awaited his response, but all she received was this blank face turning paler and paler at each passing moment.

Alex was suddenly _terrified. _This was the one time in her life she couldn't read her brother's reaction…she prepared herself for the worse and as a tear rolled down her cheek, she murmured, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for _this _to happen."

**Hmm….who expected that? Haha. I promise I have a good idea of where this story is heading, so I hope you get the chance to review! Again, thank you for your patience!**


	11. Under These Circumstances

**SUMMER is almost here, so hopefully I'll be able to update faster. I just need to get through this one week of finals. :| For now, here's the next chapter! **

Justin blocked out everything around him as his heart seemed to stop. He could barely breathe and all sorts of thoughts bombarded him. He took a few steps backwards, trying to get some air. His vision even blurred, but he blinked hard to regain it. He was just able to make out Alex's figure in front of him.

Alex wanted to run as far away as possible, but she felt like her legs were nailed to the ground. For some reason, something was holding her back. She _needed _to know how Justin was going to react and what he was thinking. Right now, she couldn't read him and it made things a thousand times worse. But she waited anyways.

Justin felt like his speech was damaged and at least to him, his words slurred, "Theee….thattt….onee….it was just…one…..night….I could've…that…."

He felt himself getting weaker, but he tried to speak once more. This time, he was able to get a small statement out, "It was just _one _night."

Alex nodded and slowly began to speak, "One night is enough for…."

Justin unconsciously cut her off, "_I know that it was enough._" Out of anxiety and fear, he looked away.

Anger arose in Alex. How could he do this to her now? Out of all people, he was always the one to understand. He did his _best _to understand- but now it seemed like all his morals and values just went out the door. He promised he wouldn't get mad….that's why she felt comfortable telling him.

Alex's eyes glazed over as she murmured sternly, "You said you wouldn't get mad."

Justin didn't dare lock eyes with her. He continued to look away as he thought to himself. He loved Alex, he really did. But what did this mean?...Was this even possible? Was it safe? What about their future? Sure, he imagined some sort of future with her- but not to this extent. How were they supposed to deal with this now? What about their family? Magic? Oh god, magic. What if….Justin's mind was flooded with these types of questions, but they vanished instantly as he felt Alex slowly walking away. He lifted his head and his eyes instantly locked with hers.

Alex was shaking her head as she stumbled backwards, trying to run away. She felt tears form, but she did her best to look angry- she couldn't look vulnerable. She _wouldn't _allow that to happen.

Justin gathered himself as quickly as he could and began to reason with himself. He was so scared, but he knew Alex was worse off. She trusted him and told him about this…problem, and he couldn't even be a proper man and comfort her. She must be more scared than he was. Sure, she looked angry, but he didn't care. He was always taught to protect his loved ones under any situation.

Justin quickly walked towards her and their bodies were no more than an inch from each other. Alex seemed surprised by Justin's action and just stared at his expression- she still couldn't read it, but it seemed understanding and soft. Justin honestly didn't know how to deal with this- not only were they going to be parents at such a young age- their whole situation was _forbidden. _It was unheard of. He looked at her for a brief moment and then embraced her. He held on tight and lowered his head so that it would fit nicely into her shoulder.

Alex calmed down as soon as she was in his arms, but still felt more afraid. _How were they going to deal with this? _She let her tears flow as she laid her head against Justin's chest.

Justin could fell Alex slowly tremble beneath him and felt his shirt slowly getting damp. But he didn't care- he didn't care if they were receiving all sorts of looks from people as they walked around them. His attention was solely on Alex. After holding her for a few minutes, he put his forehead against hers and murmured softly, "_I'm going to take care of you. Don't worry." _

Justin felt the trembling subside as he slowly kissed her forehead. He meant every word he said to her.

* * *

The next few days were…_strange. _Justin and Alex didn't avoid each other anymore, but they didn't say much either. It's not that they wanted to- they just didn't know what to say. Alex was thankful for Justin, but she knew that they couldn't avoid this situation. Not this time.

Justin was closing up the substation- her parents left early with Maxine for some karate tournament. They left the evening shift to bother her and Justin. She placed her apron on a hook and as the last customer left, she confronted Justin.

Alex asked, "May we talk?"

Justin was a bit surprised, but nodded, "Uhhh….sure."

Alex knew Justin had to clean up the place a bit so she replied, "Uhh…just meet me upstairs in a couple minutes, kay?"

Justin just nodded and soon, he was face to face with Alex. They were seated in their living room. "So what do you want to talk about?"

Alex murmured, "What's going to happen…with us….Mom, Dad, Max...ine, and uh….the…_our baby._"

Justin knew they had to talk about this sooner or later. He replied, "Honestly, I don't know…and I hate not knowing. I'm scared."

Alex agreed "I'm _terrified._ I'm too young for this, Justin…"

Justin replied, "And so am I. But remember what I said? I'm going to take care of you…of us. We're going to be alright. We'll find a way to fix this."

Alex interrupted, "I'm most scared about our family. How will we tell Mom and Dad? Not just about the baby….but about us too. We aren't ready for this."

Justin couldn't fight that statement. What Alex said had truth behind it. He nodded, "I know we aren't, but we have to be. I'm not saying we should tell them today, but I think we need to tell someone. It'll help us look at our options…our future."

Alex leaned her head towards the side, "What are you getting at?"

Justin stated seriously, "I think we should tell Maxine."

Alex was a bit reluctant, but nodded, "Alright…Max is our brother. He'll understand, right?"

Justin shrugged, "Hopefully."

A couple hours later, their parents returned with Maxine. Jerry called out, "Justin! Alex! Get down here!"

Alex went downstairs, followed by Justin. She asked, "What? What happened?"

Jerry and Theresa were smiling proudly. Jerry exclaimed, "Maxine won! She's going to advance to the championships!"

Justin was shocked, but smiled, "Congrats, Maxine! I never knew you had it in you…I really didn't."

Maxine smiled, "Thanks, Da…umm Justin."

After celebrating, the commotion died down and their parents headed to bed. Maxine mentioned, "I should get to bed as well. Good ni…"

Justin interrupted her, "Wait…Maxine, Alex and I need to talk to you."

Maxine was curious- what happened? As far as she knew, they had made up…right? "Uhh…yeah?"

Alex pulled both her and Justin aside, "We have something very important to tell you, but you _can't _tell Mom and Dad. You understand?"

Maxine was getting a bit nervous, "What's going on?"

Justin added, "We trust you enough to tell you this because you're our sibling."

Maxine nodded, "Seriously, guys, what's up?"

Alex looked at Justin for reassurance before looking at Maxine. She took a deep breath and murmured, "I'm pregnant…"

Maxine was taken aback by what her mother just said…she was….Maxine realized everything made sense. Over the past few days, she had forgotten about her "problems" about time traveling, but now it was all coming together. _Of course her mother would be pregnant…_it was the right time. But she didn't imagine it to be like this.

"…Maxine?" Justin asked quietly.

Maxine asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

Justin replied, "Because you know about _us. _And we just wanted to talk things out…"

Maxine nodded, "Oh…right. Uhh…what are you guys going to do?"

Justin sighed, "We don't know."

"We're going to have to tell Mom and Dad, but even after that, we don't know what to do. I'm so scared…" Alex added.

Maxine shrugged, "Yeah, telling Mom and Dad will probably be a pain, but you have to do it. I'd be more concerned about the future though…"

Justin nodded, "I'll find a way to fix our future. I think things will be okay."

Maxine and Justin talked about their "options" and went through all sorts of scenarios. However, they began to notice that Alex didn't say one word throughout their conversations. Justin asked, "Alex, you okay?"

Alex remained silent for a couple seconds longer. She replied, "I think I found a solution."

Justin asked, "Okay, what is it?"

"I need to get an abortion."

For the second time that week, Justin was hit with the unexpected. How could Alex even _say _that? He scoffed and looked at her seriously, "Excuse me?"

Alex nodded, "An abortion. That's how we'll fix this."

Justin looked at Maxine, who seemed hard to read. Was he the only who felt that this was definitely _not _the right option? He exclaimed and stood up, "Absolutely not! I'm not going to allow that!"

Alex stood up to face Justin, "But think about it, Justin. It'll fix everything."

"Killing our baby won't fix this!"

"Yes it will! Come on, Justin…we really don't have any other option, do we?"

Justin replied, "We have…options…we just need to find the right one. I said I would take care of you, Alex! You don't have to do this!"

Alex shrugged, "It's the only way."

Justin couldn't believe what she was saying. "Alex, I really can't fathom what you're saying right now. You're better than this- I know you are. You may be crazy, rude, mean…but I know your values are higher than this."

Alex looked away and sternly replied, "I'm going through with this, whether you like it or not." She left without another word, leaving both Justin and Maxine speechless.

The next few days were the roughest on everyone. Justin and Alex were avoiding each other once again- it never ended! Maxine didn't even know where to begin.

Maxine realized that this was much bigger than anything she faced before. She learned to deal with her parent's divorce, time traveling, and even accepted the fact that her parents were siblings. But this situation was different….her life was in _danger. _How could her mother even think about doing this? In her real parent's past, was this how things went?

Now that Maxine had become part of their lives, things changed (they just didn't know it). Maxine realized that she needed to fix this- like she always did. She ran up to her mother's room and knocked. After no response, Maxine entered her room- Alex wasn't in there. She looked around and before she left, she noticed a note on her dresser.

_I'm sorry, Justin. I know you'll understand one day. _

Maxine almost stopped breathing. Did her mother go and….she had to think fast. She ran into her father's room without asking.

"Maxine, have you ever heard of knocking? What if I was…." Justin began.

Maxine exclaimed, "You need to stop Alex!"

"What?" Justin realized what she was talking about and murmured, "Maxine, I don't feel comfortable talking about this."

"You need to convince her that it's wrong. She can't have an abortion."

"I know…but Alex is stubborn, you know. Just give me time alone….she doesn't want to talk to me and I don't want to talk to her. But I will…eventually. It's just a phase Alex is going through- she's scared."

Maxine spit out, "She's _gone, _Justin!"

"Maxine, I know that…wait what?"

"I think she went to the place…the clinic or whatever." Maxine barely managed to say.

"_What? _Why didn't you tell me this before?" Justin scrambled to his feet and grabbed his jacket. "How do you know this?"

"I found this." Maxine handed him the notes.

Justin shook his head in disbelief, "She really went…we need to stop her."

"Exactly!" Maxine said as she followed Justin out the door.

They ended up taking a taxi to the nearest clinic. Justin rushed in. His heart began to beat rapidly as he didn't see her anywhere. Was he too late?

Maxine exclaimed, "I found her! Over there." She pointed to a young girl sitting near the back of the waiting room.

Justin rushed up and confronted, "Alex, what the hell are you doing?"

Alex was startled by the sudden outburst and looked up, "Justin….what are you doing here?"

"What are _you _doing here?"

"I told you I was serious about this."

"And I was serious about not letting you do this." Justin said.

"This will fix everything…why don't you get that?"

"It's my _baby _too, you know!" Justin tried to fight back with every piece of energy he had in him.

Alex stood her ground, "I'm not ready for this! Do you want our future to be ruined? If we have this baby, it'll ruin the small chance of us ever being together. And you know it, too!"

"There are other ways beside this, Alex. I'm sure there are!"

"Well, what if there isn't? Then what? You're willing to sacrifice us for a baby? I love you, Justin." Alex murmured.

Justin's voice was raised in volume, "If you loved me, then you wouldn't go through with this. I don't think I can feel the same way about you if I allow you to _kill_ our baby."

"Will you stop putting it _that _way! It makes me feel bad and…" Alex continued to ramble on.

Maxine couldn't believe mother. She needed to butt in before it was too late. Maxine exclaimed, "Mo…Alex, listen to Justin! You have to!"

Alex looked at Maxine and sighed, "What is this to you, Maxine? It won't affect you! This is between me and Justin!"

"No! Alex, you can't go through this…you can't just get rid of a baby to fix your situation." Maxine tried to defend herself.

"You don't understand, Maxine. Both of you will get over it in a bit." Alex reasoned.

Maxine exclaimed, "It's not like a doll or something, Alex! It's an actual human being!"

Justin added, "Please don't do this to me, Alex. Look at our options…uhh….adoption! That will be good!" Justin did his best to think of ways that would prevent Alex from going through with this.

"Listen to us, Alex!" Maxine stressed.

Before Alex could reply, a nurse walked out and called, "Alex Russo."

Alex looked at the nurse behind her before looking at Justin and Maxine once more. "Tell me _one _good reason why I shouldn't go through with this."

Justin panicked and looked at Maxine. He didn't know what to say. Maxine's anxiety increased even more as she realized time was truly running out. They had no time left. _She had no time left. _

Thoughts raced through her head. Maxine didn't know what to do – her life was really in danger. There was one rule her Uncle Max stressed before she came back to the past. _She wasn't allowed to reveal anything about the future unless it was very important. _

This was important, right? She must be under special circumstances for her to reveal anything. She thought about this situation- Was it under these circumstances that she could tell Justin and Alex that they were her parents? That they couldn't kill this baby or else they'd kill her?

Alex sighed, "I'm sorry." She turned around and headed towards the nurse.

Time was running out. Maxine quickly decided that her endangered life was a legitimate reason to break the rules. It _was _under these circumstances that she had to do something.

Maxine took a deep breath and yelled, "Alex, you need to listen to me…to Justin!"

Alex turned around, "_Why _should I?"

Maxine exclaimed, "Because if you kill that baby, you kill _me_!"

Alex stared at Maxine in confusion before looking up at Justin, who had a similar puzzled expression. "What?"

Maxine faced both of her parents and straight out revealed, "Mom, Daddy…I'm _your _little girl."

**Another cliff hanger! Hopefully this makes you more excited for the next chapter This is where things get crazyyyy. **


	12. Our Little Girl

**Guess who's pretty much done with school? *raises hand* Finals are over and to celebrate, I decided to post this next chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it! **

Alex chuckled. She just shook her head and looked down at the little girl in front of her, "That's the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard. What kind of reasoning is that?"

Maxine couldn't believe it. "Would I be joking about this?"

"Well, it is you, Max...you're our crazy little brother." Alex shrugged.

"No, _Mom, _please listen to me!"

Alex replied, "Stop calling me that…it makes me feel uncomfortable."

The nurse near the door cleared her throat, "Uh, Ms. Russo? Are you ready?"

Alex nodded and turned away, "Whether you both like it or not, I'm going through with this."

Justin sighed, not knowing how else he could convince Alex to agree with him. However, he was also in shock at what Maxine had said to them earlier.

Maxine was trembling with fear as her mother walked across the room towards the nurse. She was mortified and turned around to face her father who was sitting in a chair, his head buried in his hands.

"You've got to stop her! Please! I…I…don't know what to do." Maxine pleaded.

Justin brought his head up to face the little girl standing above him. He looked into her eyes, seeing his own distraught expression staring back at him. For some odd and ridiculous reason, he believed this little girl. He didn't know how it all worked, but he felt a pull towards what she said. Even if it was a dumb excuse, at least they could all talk about it first.

Justin sighed, "Is what you said the truth?"

"I'm telling the truth! You have to believe me, Daddy." Maxine said great anxiety.

_Daddy. _She called him _Daddy. _Justin nodded and quickly got out of his chair, followed closely by Maxine. He rushed across the large room and caught Alex by the arm.

"Justin, what are you doing?"

The nurse sternly said, "Sir, you can't go with her."

Justin nodded, "I know…can you give us a moment?"

The nurse agreed, "Fine."

Justin began to explain, "Alex, I think we need to listen to…uhh…Maxine."

"_You _believe her?"

"I…I…don't know…I just thought that…"

Alex seemed to have blocked out what Justin was saying because his voice died away as she focused on only one thing. She stared at the little girl before her, somehow getting lost in her pure, chocolate eyes. She noticed how they trembled with fear, anxiously awaiting an answer. _What if she was being honest? What if she was telling the truth? _

Alex was scared- and she _never _got scared. This situation was getting bigger and bigger by each second. She began shaking her head and started to run off, not looking back- not wanting to face the innocent little girl who claimed she was her daughter.

Justin felt Alex brush past him, out the door. He was surprised and yelled, "Alex!" He was just about to chase after her, but before doing so, he turned to the nurse, "I…uhhh…I'm sorry. Not this time."

He rushed out the door, hoping she hadn't left. But he looked everywhere…practically running up and down the block. He couldn't find her.

Maxine sighed with relief- her life wasn't on the line anymore. But her parent's reactions felt almost worse than the emotions she felt just a couple minutes ago. Her mother initially shrugged it off, as expected, but now, she was _gone. _She didn't mean for her mother to feel this way…and her Dad. He seemed…indifferent, not knowing what to do or what to say. He seemed liked he was just focused on talking with Alex.

Maxine waited outside the clinic until her father came walking towards her. He looked down, but Maxine could've sworn she saw his eyes glistening- on the verge of tears. She really didn't want her parents to feel this way….she didn't expect that this would hurt them.

Maxine opened her mouth, but Justin interrupted, "Let's go home."

Maxine remained silent and listened to her father's orders. The car ride home was completely silent and when they arrived back at the substation, Justin hurried for upstairs. But after a brief moment, he came back downstairs and by the look of disappointment on his face, Maxine knew Alex wasn't there.

Once again, Maxine wanted to say something, but restrained herself as she watched her father leave through the front of the substation. She looked through the window and noticed he had walked down the street to call a cab.

Great. Now both of her parents were _gone- _because of her.

All afternoon, Justin searched for his sister. However, after trying to find her for what seemed liked hours, he walked to the nearby park. He sat down on the bench as he started to process the situation he was suddenly a part of. He thought of Alex- he truly loved her and wanted to be with her more than anything in the world. At that moment, he just wanted to talk- especially because he had no idea what to think. He needed answers to all his questions. Was Maxine really his kid? Was that even possible and if so, why was she here? He thought about the last couple of months that Maxine had been with them and started to process things. Many things made sense and began to fall together, but he still felt like there were so many holes to fill. Regardless of who Maxine really was, she was a cute, smart, and loving little girl. He had enjoyed spending time with her and felt like he could trust her. If she was really his daughter, he wasn't going to leave her. He just couldn't do that…he was scared of how Alex would cope with all of this in the future, but he knew for a fact that he wouldn't leave Maxine.

* * *

Maxine ate dinner with her grandparents that evening, but was constantly asked about Justin and Alex. She often replied that they went out with friends and wouldn't be home until later (she hoped). Maxine barely touched her food and excused herself from the table. She was getting worried that neither of her parents were home yet, so she decided to wait for them downstairs. It was only 7:00 and even light outside still, but it had been a long day and soon enough, she fell asleep at one of the tables.

Justin walked in almost at the same time as she fell asleep. Noticing Maxine, he half-smiled at the sweet little girl. She looked tired and gently picked her up. He carried her up to her bedroom, being careful to not wake her up. As he laid her down in bed, he noticed a couple books at the foot of her bed. Curious, he picked up the books, and then quickly smiled to himself. One book read "Captain Jim Bob Sherwood's Space Adventures" and the other read "Captain Jim Bob Sherwood: The Underwater Rescue." He couldn't help, but chuckle- maybe she was his daughter.

Later that evening, the front of the substation slowly opened and in walked the one and only, Alex Russo. She looked well over exhausted, but at the same, she had a certain spark of wonder in her. All day, she had walked around through the streets of Manhattan, hoping that no one could find her. She just wanted time to be alone, time to process everything. She couldn't even begin to grasp the fact that Maxine could possibly be _hers. _Hah, and she thought she was scared because she was pregnant. Well, not only was she _still _pregnant, but her own kid was right before her eyes. She had thought about this all day and didn't really want to think of it anymore. She also headed for her room, but on the way, she decided to peek inside Maxine's room.

Alex walked over to her bed as quietly as possible and carefully sat on top, trying her best not to wake Maxine. She stared at her for a few minutes, thinking about everything that happened. She then slowly brought her hand up to her face, slowly caressing her hair as she slept peacefully. Alex's breathing became calm, realizing that Maxine could possibly be er daughter. All this time, she thought it was Max. Maxine looked like both her and Justin, but she just assumed that it was because they were all siblings. But as she noticed her facial features in detail, she realized that Maxine looked a lot like her. Her facial shape was the exact same and although her eyes were closed, Alex knew that they were a sparkling chocolate brown. Maxine was very similar to Alex, but she had Justin's smile- the smile Alex fell in love with every time she saw him. With all the possible things that could've gone wrong, Alex couldn't believe how beautiful Maxine was. Maxine was _hers. _

Alex slowly got up and closed the door behind her, but as she did so, she was startled.

"She looks a lot like us, doesn't she?"

Alex turned around swiftly and nodded, "She's really _ours, _huh?"

Justin moved closer and placed his hands in Alex's, "I believe so."

Alex looked away, scared of what he would say next and how she was going to handle it all. An awkward silence hung in the air until Justin broke it.

Justin sternly, but softly stated, "I'm _not _going to leave her. I'm going to take care of her."

Alex loved Justin. He was dorky, intelligent, and the most compassionate person she had ever met. She cherished his sincerity and only wished she had the strength he had. Tears fell from her eyes as she pressed her head in her brother's chest, basically collapsing in his arms. Justin embraced her tightly, so relieved that she had come home- that she was safe.

Justin murmured, "Everything will work out."

Alex shook with tears, "I messed up…I was going to…Maxine. She…and now…I'm so scared, Justin."

Justin placed his head on top of hers, as if he was trying to shield her. He whispered, "So am I. But we're going to be okay. Maxine is alright now…and so are we."

Alex continued to cry as Justin held her close, whispering, "I love you."

* * *

The next morning, Justin took Alex and approached Maxine. If they were going to set things right, they would all need to talk.

"Hey, Maxine…can we talk for a moment?"

Maxine looked away from her parents, "I thought you didn't believe me."

Justin sighed, not completely feeling up to explaining everything. They were the ones needing answers. He quickly asked, "Can you explain some things to us?"

Maxine shrugged as Justin continued, "You're from the future, right?"

"Yeah."

"Uhh…why did you come back? And how?"

Maxine replied, "I figured a way to return here because….uhh…I can't tell you. It'll probably change the future if I do."

Justin nodded, "Yeah, but isn't the future already changed since we know who you are?"

Maxine shrugged, "I honestly don't know…uhh, you see, my parents…uhh….you guys don't really know I'm time traveling."

"That's just great…time traveling is dangerous, Maxine!" Justin scolded.

Maxine felt ashamed, but replied, "…which is why I'm really hoping any of this didn't change the future.

Alex finally mumbled something, "So, you're really our daughter?"

Maxine nodded, "Yeah…I am."

Justin questioned, "How do we know you're not making this entire thing up?"

Maxine thought hard before replying, "Because I am the center of your guy's lives…and I spend all my time with you. I know you like any other child would now their parents."

"But so does Max….he's our sibling."

"Yeah, but as….uhh….a family, we know each other so well."

"How?"

Maxine couldn't reveal that they were split up in the future, but she did her best and told them everything she knew, "Well…uhh…I know that you guys go out on a date every anniversary. You took…uhh…I mean you, Dad, take Mom to Puerto Rico."

Justin looked at Alex, but then back at Maxine, "Why?"

"Because you said it's the one place where you two could feel safe. Somehow, you felt like you were the only ones in the world and all that mattered was each other." Maxine replied.

Justin and Alex knew she was right- every year since then, they headed back to Puerto Rico. They didn't stay in the resorts though; they made their own little camp in the middle of the forest. Maxine was right- they felt comfortable there because it was the first place where they both truly understood each other.

Alex changed the subject, "So we end up together?"

Seeing that it wouldn't hurt to tell them, Maxine lied, "Uhh… yeah." _Technically, they weren't together._

"Do you know how we were able to stay together….uhh…raising you? What did everyone think?"

Maxine honestly didn't know the answer, so she replied, "I don't know…"

"What do you mean you don't know?" Alex exclaimed.

"You don't really talk about that…plus, I can't really say much." What Maxine said was true. They never talked about getting "married."

Justin calmly asked, "Maxine, do you have any idea of where things will be handled from here on out?"

Alex added, "What should we do…now that umm….we have you."

Maxine shrugged, "I'm not sure…you have to tell Grandma and Grandpa."

Justin sighed, "We're working on that."

Alex blurted out, "How about magic? Does the wizard world find out about us?"

Maxine shrugged, "I really don't know." Maxine wasn't lying- she had only found out that her parents were actually siblings when she traveled in the past.

It didn't really make sense to her- how did Maxine not know if they talked to the Wizard World or not? Maybe Maxine didn't know anything because they had to keep a secret?

Maxine suggested, "I think you should talk to the Wizard World…they need to know and maybe they have a solution."

Justin nodded, "Yeah…we'll see about that." He looked at Maxine and said softly, "Maxine, you're our daughter now…and I'm going to take care of you. You're my little girl."

Maxine smiled as Justin bent down to hug her, "Thanks, Dad." She was so happy with her father's reaction, but was dreading her mother's.

Alex looked Maxine straight in the eye, noticing she was trembling with trepidation. She took a deep breath and knelt down so she could face the small girl before her. "I'm going to take care of you, too, Maxine. It may take me awhile to get used to this, so please be patient with me. I'll do my best since I'm really not good with these types of things."

Maxine sighed in relief, thanking God that her mother's reaction was like this. Her face glowed in happiness as she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, "I love you, Mommy." It felt so good to be in her mother's arms again.

Alex was startled by the sudden touch and the fact that someone had called her "Mommy." She slowly hugged Maxine back and managed to reply, "I, uh, love you too…Maxine."

Justin smiled as he watched his two girls. He noticed a new glimmer in Alex's eyes- one that said there was _no way _she was going to give up their gorgeous little girl.

**Thanks for reading this chapter! Please review! I just want to thank everyone again for reviewing- it keeps me very motivated and I love reading your feedback. It's great! **


	13. Consequences

**Hey! I've been on a mission trip for the last couple of weeks and haven't had any access to the internet. I was also struggling with this storyline, but I now have a better of idea where this story is heading. So I'm back with lots of creative juices! :) Thanks for being patient and here's another chapter!**

Maxine pouted, "Why can't I come?"

"Because this is something that Alex and I need to figure out on our own." Justin quickly replied and turned to Alex for help.

Alex sighed and nodded, "Yeah, but Justin….she could…"

Justin glared at her, "Don't give her any ideas!"

"Please! I might be able to help or something! I _really _want to come!" Maxine whined.

Justin shook his head, "I said no…" He grabbed his jacket off the door before heading downstairs to the kitchen and into their lair.

Maxine ran after him and Alex followed. "But _Daddy!_"

Justin turned around and stuttered, "D..Daddy?"

Maxine rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Well that's why I usually call you!"

"I'm…not used to that quite yet…so don't…" Justin put his hand on the wizard portal as he quietly ordered, "Alex, let's go."

Alex sighed and stood next to him.

Maxine moved closer as well and pleaded, "Daddy! Please! Let me come…"

Justin looked at his _daughter _as she begged to come with them. He sighed and nodded, "Fine."

Maxine smiled, "Yes!"

Justin beat himself up, "God! I can't believe I'm letting you come. I'm so weak!"

"Yeah, you are." Alex smirked at him as she went through their portal.

The three of them entered the Wizard World and Maxine ran off into one of her favorite Wizard shops. Justin yelled, "Don't go too far, Maxine!"

Alex noticed Justin was distressed and a little bit off the edge. She put a hand on his arm and asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"

Justin looked her straight in the face and muttered, "What if we aren't making the right decision?"

"Justin, you were the one who decided to do this. Why are you suddenly afraid now?"

"Well…I…I don't want anything else to go wrong. The Wizard World knows that we…uh…well, much to my dismay, we've brought a lot of trouble to them." Justin admitted honestly and continued, "_You _always like to cause trouble….Max is famous for his crazy antics…you and I together revealed magic to the world…I _became _an Angel of Darkness…and now this…."

Alex whispered deviously, "Well then, what else can go wrong?"

Justin seriously replied, "I could lose you forever."

Alex muttered, "Justin, don't say that. We'll be…fine."

Justin sighed, "You better be right."

Alex gave him a comforting smile and held his hand tightly as he eased up beside her. After Maxine mentioned they needed to talk to the Wizard World about their relationship, Justin and her decided it was the best next thing to do. They wanted to let Professor Crumbs know about their relationship and convince him that they belonged together. All in all, they wanted to ask him if there was a way for them to be together without breaking anymore rules. Alex was scared too, but for some reason, she had a good feeling about all of this. Sure, she and her siblings didn't make such good decisions in the past, but Professor Crumbs knew they were rather good kids…and wizards.

Justin yelled, "Maxine! Come back! We have to go!"

Maxine ran back over to her parents as they all flashed toward Wizard Headquarters. They entered the large wizard portal which led them to the main lobby. The Wizard Headquarters was where Wizard Court was held and where many important meetings took place. Professor Crumbs' office had to be there as well.

Justin walked to the main desk, still holding on to Alex, and asked, "Excuse me, is Professor Crumb here?"

The lady at the desk nodded without looking up, "Yes, he is."

"Umm…may we see him?" Justin nervously asked.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Uhh...no?" Justin looked at Alex in confusion.

"Then you can't see him. He's extremely busy."

Alex pleaded, "We really need to see him. It's important."

"You need to make an appointment first."

"But we need to see him _now._" Justin begged and looked to Alex for help.

Alex rolled her eyes and mentioned, "Tell him that the _Russos _want to see him."

The lady at the front desk quickly looked up and eyed the young kids before her. She asked in disbelief, "_The Russos?"_

Alex looked at Justin with a successful smirk, "Yup, we're the ones."

"Wow. Justin and Alex Russo are here. You two were the ones who…"

Alex rolled her eyes once more, "Yes, we know…we've done lots of famous things that the Wizard World knows about. May we see Crumbs now?"

"Uhh…yes…one moment, please." The lady responded as she quickly tapped her wand and sent a message to Professor Crumbs.

"Alright. Go into the door on the left, then follow the signs after that." The lady instructed.

Justin replied, "Thank you."

"Hold on…" The lady caught them, "Who's this little girl?"

Justin blurted out, "She's uhh…well, she's the reason why we need to see the Professor."

"Oh, okay then. Move along."

After entering the door, they did a couple spells here and there. Then they passed through various doors and portals before arriving right in front of the Professor's office.

Alex moaned, "Gosh…why is security so tough around here? They made us do silly spells and walk _forever _just to reach this office."

"Well, he is Professor Crumbs." Justin sighed.

Maxine looked up at her parents, noticing they were a bit on the edge. Her father was trembling with trepidation as he held on to her mother. She knew her mother was just as scared, but she handled things better and gave a reassuring smile to her father. Maxine sighed as well. She didn't know if this was the right thing to do…she just assumed that they needed to tell the Wizard World about their situation. Her future was very different from this place in time and she knew that magic probably had a lot to do with it.

Her father knocked on the door and they waited until Professor Crumbs opened it. The old wizard greeted with a mischievous smile, "Ahh….Justin and Alex Russo."

"Hi Professor." Justin and Alex answered together.

Professor eyed Maxine and asked, "Oh…who are you? You look familiar." He racked his memory for the time he encountered this little girl.

After realizing that the Professor was completely lost, Maxine greeted, "Hi…I'm Maxine."

"Oh…hello, young lady. Why don't you all come inside?" Professor Crumbs invited them in as he took a seat at his desk.

The three of them sat down as well and shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The Professor continued, "So, what are the _Russos _doing here in my office? This should be interesting, shouldn't it?"

Justin chuckled with fear, "Uhh…yeah…sure. We, umm…my sister and I, need to tell you something."

"Okay…I'm sure this will be…_exciting. _But first, why is this little girl here?"

"That's what we want to talk about?"

"She isn't a mortal, is she?" Professor Crumbs jumped to conclusions.

"What? No, no…she isn't." Justin said.

"Then who is she?"

"Well…it's a long story."

"We have time."

Justin took a deep breath as started to explain, "Awhile back, Alex and I…ummm…..you see, Max is way ahead in the competition."

"Ahhh, yes. Little Max…"

"And he decided to move up the family competition…so Alex and I were a bit shocked, well mostly angry, so we decided to do something about it."

"Oh boy." The Professor sighed.

"We both turned into Max and tried to get the competition moved back to its original date. However, things got messy…and there were some spells…and…uh…" Justin stopped.

"And?" The Professor questioned.

"Well, Alex and I formed a mutant spell...which turned Max into a little girl. We did a test and we found out Max was going to be a little girl indefinitely. Believe me, Professor, we've done everything we can to change him back….remember that time you turned into a little kid? Well, that potion was supposed to work on Max too, but it didn't and…" Justin started to ramble, but was quickly interrupted.

Professor Crumb's mouth opened in shock as he stared at Maxine. "Wait a minute…_Max? _Do I have _all _Russo siblings here right now?"

Alex chuckled, "About that….well, there's a catch."

"What _now?_"

"It's a lot bigger than you're probably expecting, Professor." Justin warned him.

Alex added, "Yeah…like we're in a _really _complicated situation here."

Professor Crumbs exclaimed, "Just tell me already! Knowing you two, there's always a complicated situation!"

Justin looked down, "This isn't Max."

"Then where's Max?"

"Umm…stuck in limbo land?" Alex shrugged.

"Well…then who's this?" The professor was completely confused at this moment.

Justin blurted out, "This is our daughter."

As Professor Crumbs' eyes widened in disbelief, Alex smacked her brother. "Justin! What was that? Way to take it slowly."

Justin trembled, holding his arm in pain, "Sorry! I panicked! Oh gosh…uh Professor? Are you…umm…that didn't come out right. Well it did…but I mean…"

Professor Crumbs stopped his babbling, "Hold on! Slow down! I…I don't understand…your _daughter?_"

Alex murmured, "Yeah…"

"How do you even know that this little girl is…" The professor was flabbergasted.

Justin and Alex remained silent. Neither of them could find any more words to explain the whole situation. They silently begged Maxine for help.

Maxine kindly smiled at the old man, "Hi Professor Crumbs. My name is Maxine and I'm their daughter. I know it sounds crazy…with the given circumstances and all, but it's true. This is my _mom and dad_."

"M…Maxine…why…umm….how old are you? Your…umm...Justin and Alex…they must've had you when they were very…" Professor Crumbs did his best to push back all the restrictions of the fact that these pair of siblings were even together in the first place.

"Oh gosh no!" Maxine exclaimed. "Well, they're my parents and all…but my mom didn't have me when she was like 7! I..uhh….I traveled from the future."

"You did _what?_"

"I know time traveling is dangerous, but I _had _to come back. I had to because…"

"Wait up..uhh…Maxine, I need to speak with your parents alone."

"But…"

"No buts. Please wait in the main lobby." The Professor sternly replied.

Maxine was instantly worried and feared the worst. She didn't want to leave her parents, but she couldn't disobey the Professor either. Without hesitation she flung herself into her mother's arms and hugged her as tight as possible. Surprised, Alex "hugged" her too before she moved on to hugging Justin. Justin embraced his daughter slowly and gave her a tight squeeze. Maxine exited the room straight after.

Justin pleaded, "Professor, I know this all sounds like…"

"Justin, let me do all the talking for now on."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you believe that young girl is your daughter?" Professor Crumbs asked first.

"Yes."

"Okay. She certainly looks like you both. But in order for her to be your daughter, you two must be in a…"

"Relationship? Yes." Alex bravely said. With the Professor's motion to continue, she said, "I don't care what people say, but we _love _each other. That's really all I think I have to say, Professor."

"You do know this is _wrong._"

"It's not wrong to love, Professor." Alex fought back.

"Yes I know, but…huh…I really don't know what to say. Have you told your family?"

Justin shook his head, "We wanted to come here first."

"Why is that?"

"We…umm…thought that magic could help us. We want to be together, sir. We _need _to be with each other." Justin gripped Alex's hand and moved closer to her.

"What makes you think magic will help you? What makes you think _I _will?"

"Professor, please…you have to help us."

"Why should I?" Professor Crumbs was angry at the whole situation.

"Because…we _love _each other. Don't you understand? There's nothing wrong with love!"

"But it's incest! This isn't _acceptable_!"

"That's why we're here! We want magic to fix it! Isn't there a way to umm…make _us _okay?"

"This isn't normal!"

"We've _never _been normal! And you know that, Professor!" Justin yelled.

"Your…daughter…she's…."

"Maxine is fine. Didn't you see her? She's normal…no defects or anything." Justin defended his daughter. "There's nothing wrong with her. She's a beautiful girl. She came back to the past to save us."

"Why?"

"Because in the future…we aren't together." Justin reluctantly replied.

"So this doesn't even matter. You two aren't even together in the future!"

"But we're here to make _sure _that we fix the future."

"I'm pregnant _right now_, Professor. I'm scared out of mind and I'm forced to feel guilty of my relationship with my brother. At this moment, my life is so screwed up that I have _nothing _to lose. So please…give us a chance and help us." Alex explained.

It remained silent for several minutes. The Professor didn't look up and just played with pens on his desk. After sighing, he finally looked up.

"You two have always been close, huh?"

"Yes. _Always._"

The Professor sighed, "Justin, Alex…I have never seen a situation like this. That's why I don't know how to deal with this. I know you two are_ special. _The Russo siblings…you guys are famous, at least to me. You've done so many crazy things, but in the end, you always care for each other and prove to be pretty good wizards. I _trust _you two."

Alex looked up at Justin with an eager smile as Justin squeezed her hand. "So you can help us?"

"I believe so." The old wizard smiled, but seriously continued, "However, you must tell your parents before we can do anything. And also, there is one major consequence. In the future if _anybody _finds out about this and exposed you, I will be forced to give both of you an extremely severe punishment. Understand?"

Justin nodded before asking, "What exactly do you have in mind, Professor?"

* * *

Maxine paced around the lobby, waiting anxiously for her parents. She didn't want to leave them with the Professor, but she had to. She just hoped everything was going all right. After waiting forever, she recognized her parents.

Maxine ran up to them, "What happened? What's going on? Is there a way to…"

Alex smiled, "Maxine, chill out."

Justin looked at Alex and grinned widely, "We can be together…_finally_."

Maxine's face lit up as she jumped for joy, "He's going to help you? Yes! This is how everything is supposed to be!"

Justin nodded, "Yeah, but we have to do a few things first. Come on, let's go home." With that note, Justin flashed all three of them back to the substation.

Once they arrived, Justin and Alex briefly explained the situation to Maxine. "We have to tell Mom and Dad."

"Now?"

Justin looked at Alex and nodded, "I think the sooner we explain things to them, then the better. Oh, and when we tell them, just play along, okay? We don't really want them knowing you're…our daughter."

Maxine agreed as the three of them headed upstairs into their living room/kitchen area. Justin nervously approached his parents who were watching TV, "Mom, Dad…we have something to tell you."

Theresa sighed and shut the TV off and assumed the worst, "What did you guys get into now?"

Jerry began, "Yeah, you two are always in trouble. Would it hurt to be responsible for once? Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll fix it somehow."

Justin continued, "Well…we're not exactly _in trouble_….we're just in a situation that is….complicated."

"This should be good."

Alex bluntly stated, "We don't have time to beat around the bush, so we're just going to say it out loud. Mom, Dad…we're in love."

"Come again?" Jerry asked.

Justin sighed, "Alex and I _love _each other. That's as clear as it's going to get." He held onto Alex.

Jerry's eyes widened and exclaimed, "_What? _This is unacceptable! We can't have you two going around…"

"Daddy, you have to listen to us. There's a way for…." Alex began.

"No! I'm not letting you two start a…relationship."

"Dad, stop! Before you continue to rant, we need to say something first." Justin looked at his Dad, who grunted in approval. He continued, "We know this is _wrong_, but what we have together is something really incredible. We knew that you guys would be upset and that everyone would judge us from this day forward. But we found a way around this all."

Alex helped out Justin and said, "We talked to Professor Crumbs and…"

Jerry exploded, "You brought _magic _into this?"

"Just listen!"

"No, I won't…because you…"

Theresa cut her husband off and sighed. All this time she remained silent, as if she knew this was coming. She reasoned, "Jerry, let the kids explain…"

Justin continued, "There's a way for Alex and I to be together, but it's a really crazy plan. However, we're willing to risk anything for this."

Alex explained, "Professor Crumbs knows a special spell that will allow us to be together. Basically, the plan is that one of us will become a mortal, without powers. Ultimately, the person who is mortal will also be forgotten…no one will remember who this person is. They'll be like a stranger. Therefore, Justin and I can be together without anybody knowing we're siblings…"

After taking a few moments to process things, Jerry exclaimed, "That's absurd!"

"Dad! I don't care what you think! Alex and I are in love! There's nothing you can say or do that will break us apart. Out of all people, I thought you would understand us…you gave up your powers for you and Mom because you loved her. And I just thought that…" Justin blew up before being cut off by his father.

Jerry shook his head and his expression softened. He took a deep breath and muttered, "I do understand. I really do."

"No, you don't!"

"Justin and Alex…I was shocked at first to learn about all this, but I'm not angry. Whatever you two have together is indeed special. You bring out the best in each other…who am I to prevent that?" Jerry explained. "But I can't let you go through with this plan. It's ridiculous."

Alex replied, "No, it's not. This is the only way for us to be together."

Theresa agreed with Jerry, "Can't you two be together without magic being involved?"

Justin sighed, "Guys, I'm actually really happy that you two are accepting us…but no one else is going to understand. What we're doing is illegal…what if I wanted to marry Alex one day?" Noticing his parents were getting uncomfortable, he quickly ended his point, "I won't be able to…we can't be truly happy unless we use magic as our way out."

Theresa sighed, "I know…it just hurts me to know that I'm losing one of my children."

"No, Mom…you won't be. Whoever becomes a mortal will still be around here a lot. We just won't be…blood-related."

Jerry mumbled, "We're just going to _forget?_"

"Exactly…well, Alex and I will be the only ones who know about this all." Justin gave a look to Maxine, one that said she would also remember. Just the three of them.

"And you're _okay _with all this?" Theresa asked.

"We're willing to risk anything."

Jerry gave in and asked, "So who's going to become a mortal?"

Alex began, "Well, we haven't exactly decided, but…"

Without hesitation, Justin interrupted her and stated, "I am."

Alex turned to face Justin and moved closer to him, "What? No…no…Justin, we haven't talked about any of the details yet. I just can't let you do this…I…"

Justin looked at Alex straight in the eye and smiled, "Alex, I _want _to do this. I am willing to risk everything for you. And I want you to still be a Russo. You'll have Max, Mom, Dad…"

Theresa had tears in her eyes and cut him off, "Justin, you _will always _have us. We love you."

Alex sighed and hugged Justin. He was willing to risk everything for her and she just had to accept that. She nodded, "Okay."

Jerry asked quietly, "Will the wizard family competition happen still?"

Alex explained, "Actually, no. Max will automatically receive the family powers…once Justin becomes mortal, then if we were to be together, then I must give up my powers."

Jerry nodded and looked at little Maxine, "Max…do you understand all of this? Are you okay? You've been quiet."

Maxine nodded, "I'm fine." She looked around the room and realized how lucky she was to belong to this family. Her parents were making the biggest sacrifice anyone could make just for her. She didn't know how much trouble it caused everyone, but she was finally able to put everything together. This was the reason why her father didn't have powers in the future…it all made sense now.

Maxine asked, "So when is this all going to happen?"

"Professor Crumbs advised us to do as soon as possible."

"Which means?" Jerry and Theresa asked.

"Tomorrow. This will all happen by tomorrow."

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry for the long wait, but please review if you can! **


	14. New Life

**Hope you like this chapter!**

Alex gripped Justin's hand as they stood waiting in a small room. She felt his uneasiness, so she moved closer and held his hand tighter- hoping those small gestures helped comfort him.

Their parents stood with them as well. Maxine wanted to come as well, but Justin and Alex told her to stay home. They honestly wanted some time with just their parents. They were waiting for Professor Crumbs who promised to take care of everything from there on. Within the hour, the old professor flashed in, startling the edgy Russo family.

"Everything is all set."

Alex noticed Justin's breathing become abnormal as each breath he took shook with fear. She felt guilty for letting him go through with all this. He was giving up _everything _for her. She sighed, "Justin…"

However, Justin looked away and let go of her hand. He slowly pulled himself together and turned around to face his family. He wanted to say goodbye to the people he loved the most, even though they would forget him in an instant.

Justin walked up to his parents and stood before them like a little boy with a sheepish expression. He couldn't look at them in the face as he just mumbled, "M...mom…Dad…I…."

With tears in her eyes, Teresa brought her son in for a bone-crushing hug. All Justin could do was succumb to his mother's hug and sob into her shoulder. Trying to keep a calm face, Jerry held on to his wife and son.

Jerry swallowed back tears as he quietly mumbled, "We love you, Justin. We always will."

Justin just nodded as Theresa added, "J..Justin…you'll always be my _mijo_. I hope you know that."

Justin nodded once again and then lifted his head up, "I…j…just want to say...thank you. Thanks for everything you've done for me."

Jerry finally let a tear roll down his cheek as he muttered, "We are so _proud _of you."

Justin knew that saying goodbye would be hard, but he didn't imagine it to feel anything like this. This was probably the worst moment in his life and honestly the hardest thing he has ever done. But as he looked back at Alex, he realized it was _so _worth it.

Alex was crying hard as she realized that Justin was doing so much for her. She hated putting him through this…she was literally watching him suffer.

Professor Crumbs cleared his throat and explained, "This won't take very long. Once this procedure is done, everything will have changed. You will have forgotten everything…you won't even remember being in this room. I honestly don't know where magic will take you, but things should not change drastically. Well, of course things will be different, but nothing out of the ordinary for your lives. The one most affected here is Justin…and Alex, I suppose."

The Professor looked at Justin, "I'll explain more to you right before the process begins. Are you ready?"

Justin nodded, but as Alex walked with him, the Professor had to stop her. "Alex, this is for Justin only…we can't have anyone else with us."

"Wh..what? But I want to be there with…"

Justin cut her off, "Alex, no. Just let me go in…I'll be fine."

Alex shook her head and looked at Justin pleadingly, "But Justin…I…I want to be there with you. We're supposed to go through this together."

Although he was scared out of his mind, he begged, "Alex…"

Alex rushed up to him and hugged him as tight as she could. She whispered, "I'm going to go through with all this with you…once this done, I'm never going to leave your side. You're _not _alone."

Justin nodded as he kissed her forehead lightly. "We'll get through this." As he followed Professor Crumbs out the door, he took one last glance at his family. He couldn't believe that they were just going to forget him…

Justin braced himself and did his best to stay collected. He asked quietly, "So, Professor, what happens next?

"I, and some other wizards, will be performing some spells. You don't need to know what they are or anything…you probably won't even remember this process. However, I'm more concerned about what happens when we're finished here."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm positive that everyone will forget who you are, but I'm not quite sure how much of a "story" magic is going to form. You'll be connected to your family in some way, through Alex of course, but you still need a background story. Magic might create a whole new background story for you and restore you with lots of information…or it could leave you with nothing."

"Great…" Justin sighed.

"But whatever happens, just play along, okay?"

Justin nodded before he was told to sit in a chair. Soon the lights were switched off and he was sitting in the dark. Within seconds, he heard a couple voices muttering spells- he recognized one to be a sleeping spell. He fought to stay awake and saw pictures of familiar people begin to blur in his head. Everything was becoming a blur and as his eyelids slowly began to close, he prayed to God that he and Alex had made the right decision.

* * *

Justin slowly opened his eyes and realized his surroundings were…moving. His eyes fluttered as they struggled to open; he realized he was in some sort of contained area…oh…he was in a car- a taxi, to be exact.

All he remembered was the dark room…with Professor Crumbs. _Magic. _They had really done it…they had gone through with the plan.

Confused, he asked the cab driver, "Wh...Where are we going again?"

The driver glanced at Justin through his rearview mirror and sighed, "Waverly Place, my man…you okay?"

"Y...yeah…I'm good." Justin nodded as he looked out the window. He realized where he was now- a few blocks away from the street he grew up on. It made sense for magic to send him there first…

Soon, Justin was walking on the familiar street. He looked ahead and noticed two familiar people sitting on a set of stairs…Alex and Maxine. His walking pace picked up and he swiftly made his way towards them. Recognizing him as well, Alex immediately stood up.

Justin exclaimed as he embraced her, "Alex!"

"Justin! Thank God…I…thought…something had…"

Justin just held her as she shook with fear, "I…I…do…don't…Alex, I love you."

Alex smiled, "I love you too, Justin." Her eyes sparkled with relief and sheer happiness. She couldn't believe it…

Justin looked down at Maxine, who exclaimed, "Daddy!"

"That's really odd sounding to me…but I'll go with it." Justin smiled and picked up Maxine, swirling her around.

Alex asked, "So what happened? What did the Professor say?"

"Well…I honestly don't remember the procedure. Crumbs said I wouldn't, but he also said that I would have a lot of information or not much at all…"

"So…do you know…anything?"

Justin scratched his head and thought, but came up with nothing. "I don't think magic gave me much to work with…I guess I'll have to find out myself." He thought some more before feeling his pocket and bringing out his wallet.

Alex looked at his license and stuttered, "J…Justin…Russo? Wait…did this whole thing work or not?"

Justin shook his head, "Well, it's not too common for people to have the same last name, you know. I guess we're both Russos…but technically strangers…If nobody remembers, then it shouldn't matter."

Maxine added, "I guess that explains why my last name is still Russo too."

Justin nodded and took out a picture in his wallet, "…Who are…"

Maxine recognized that same picture. There was a larger version of it in her father's condo. She exclaimed, "That's Grandma and Grandpa!"

"My…parents?" Justin's eyes lit up as he realized he was slowly learning his life story. He asked Maxine, "Where do they live?"

"Dad…they, umm, passed away. I'm sorry."

"Were we all close?"

Maxine shrugged, "I never met them…they've been gone for awhile actually. You said that Grandma died of cancer when you were really young and that Grandpa deteriorated soon after. He passed on about a year before I was born."

"Oh…so if Alex is pregnant now…then he must've just passed away." Justin murmured, a bit disappointed that he never knew his "parents." He came to a conclusion, "Well, the less I know, the better I guess…"

Alex apologized, "I'm sorry…"

Justin shrugged, "It's all good…" He also found a schedule book in his side pocket of his jacket and took it out. After flipping through the small pocket book for several minutes, he found out quite a lot of things.

"So my full name is Justin Philip Russo."

"I can live with that." Alex smiled.

Justin continued, "And I'll be a freshman at NYU…wow! This is really exciting…I'm actually taking an extra summer course to get ahead on a special Pre-Med program. It looks like I have all sorts of meetings, stud group sessions, conventions, and everything! I've always wanted to do this."

Alex noticed an address scribbled on the inside cover of his book and assumed, "Maybe that's your address."

"Probably. Let's flash there." Justin felt for his wand, but realized it wasn't in his back pocket where it normally was.

Oh, that's right. He wasn't a wizard anymore. Suddenly, he felt empty and lost. Sure, magic was still in his life, but he couldn't really control it anymore. He lived for magic and he definitely wasn't prepared for a life without it.

Alex noticed Justin's expression seem distanced and she knew exactly what he was thinking about. She sighed, "I'll do it for now…"

Alex grabbed hold of Justin and Maxine's hands as she flashed them to that certain address. Justin assumed there was a spare key hiding somewhere so he checked in a flower pot, and naturally, there it was. He had the door open within minutes and walked into the apartment. It was definitely his place because he recognized a couple of his old belongings.

After looking around for quite a bit, Justin mumbled, "So this is where I live…I honestly don't know much, but I think I could probably think of a back story with the hints that magic gives me."

Alex nodded, "So what's the plan from here on?"

Maxine commented, "Well…I think I see a wedding in the future."

"I never thought I would hear anyone say that about us…" Justin looked at Alex and then continued, "I want to see Mom and Dad first."

Alex added, "I know you want to, Justin, but I think we need to figure out some things first. Like…do my parents even know who you are? Are we dating?"

"Good point…I don't know…"

Maxine explained, "Well, your guy's anniversary is coming up. So you've got to be married by May 14…so that gives you about a month."

"A month? There's no way we're getting married that soon! We're not even engaged yet…" Justin exclaimed.

"Well, you were definitely planning on it." Maxine said as she lifted off a small box of the counter.

Justin knew it was a jewelry box and quickly looked at Alex. She was just as shocked as he was…Alex stammered, "I didn't even know…we haven't talked about this, have we?"

Justin slowly grinned, "Apparently we have."

"But…but…"

"Alex, both you and I know that our lives aren't normal. So what's another surprise? Let's do this." Justin looked at his daughter, "What do you think, Maxine? Should we do this?"

Maxine nodded excitedly and her eyes shone, "Of course!" Maxine loved seeing her parents together. It was a really magical moment for all of them.

Justin walked towards Alex and bent down on his knee, "Well, Alex, never in my life would I have thought we'd be in this position. But I know we're here because of love. We've always been close and we've gone through many crazy things together. We've stood by each other since forever and I intend to keep it that way. This is _our _new life now and I'm really hoping you'll stick by me."

Alex was taken aback by what Justin just spilled out. She murmured, "…We can really do this?"

"It's you and I. How can we not?" Justin chuckled, thinking back to their family vacation a few years back.

Alex giggled along and she nodded, "Yeah, it's you and I. I think we can manage to handle all this."

Justin quickly stood up and kissed Alex as he placed the ring on her finger. Alex smiled, "I can't believe this is happening…and so quick too."

Maxine hugged her parents. She looked up at them and grinned, "I knew you guys were meant to be. I just knew it. "

As Justin hugged Alex and their little girl, he mentioned, "Come on, let's go to the substation. Maybe more surprises are to come."

**So sadly, this is story is coming to an end. Couple more chapters or so…**_**however, **_**this story isn't done. The last chapter will probably have a cliffhanger which means this story will pick off with a direct sequel. I did it this way because I don't like stories getting **_**too **_**long. **

**Hope you'll all stick with this story! **


	15. Sacrifice

**Here's the next chapter :)**

With Maxine trailing behind them, Justin and Alex entered the small substation they grew up in. There weren't any customers because they closed early. Seeing no one in the kitchen, they all headed up the spiral staircase into the family living room.

"Hey guys!" Jerry exclaimed as he finished setting up the table.

Theresa welcomed them, "Come on in!"

Alex smiled at her family's warm welcome while Justin fumbled with his words, "...Uhh…umm …hi…." He knew his muttering seemed weird and awkward, but what was he supposed to call his parents now? They weren't Mom or Dad anymore.

Jerry walked over and hugged Alex before turning to Justin and holding out his hand. Justin felt excluded as he realized that his Dad had no clue who he really was. Nevertheless, he played along and shook his father's hand.

Jerry exclaimed, "Justin! I'm so glad you could have dinner with us tonight. Alex is always telling us you have so much going on in preparation for NYU. You have to tell us more later on, alright?"

"Uhh…yeah…" Justin said as he looked at Alex. Apparently, the whole family knew him. Maybe he and Alex had been dating for quite awhile now.

Jerry noticed Maxine standing to the side and was startled, "Oh…hello…who are….Alex? Who's this?"

Alex frantically looked at Justin. Her parents were unfamiliar with Maxine. "Oh…umm….wait. We have so news to tell you first."

Jerry sighed, "I hope this little girl has nothing to do with you being in trouble, Alex. I'm trusting you with this one."

Theresa finished up placing food on the table as she walked over to stand beside her husband. Her eyebrow rose as she asked, "So what's the big news?"

"Well…" Alex shifted a bit uncomfortably before being interrupted.

Theresa stopped her, "Wait, before you tell us, let me call Max. Max! Get down here…Justin and Alex are here already!"

Both Alex and Justin's eyes shot towards each other. They had totally forgotten about Max. They both exclaimed, "Max?"

"Yeah, he's upstairs…probably doing something dumb." Theresa explained while rolling her eyes and calling his name once more.

Within seconds, Max came down and greeted them, "Hey!"

Alex grinned widely. She hadn't seen him ever since Maxine entered their lives. She threw her hands around him and hugged him. "I'm so glad to see you!"

Jerry scrunched up his face in jealousy, "I wish I was greeted that way."

Max laughed as he hugged his sister, "I'm glad to see you too…although we saw each other this morning. You confuse me, you know that?"

After Alex let go, Max turned to Justin and smiled, "Hey, man, what's up?"

Justin was overwhelmed by all the commotion and now seeing Max made him forget about a lot of things. He hugged him too, "I'm so happy you're okay."

Justin suddenly realized that Max wasn't hugging him back and remembered everything in a split second. "Oh….oh right." He awkwardly let go of Max and shook his hand instead. "Sorry about that."

Max chuckled, "It's fine, dude. I was just shocked."

Theresa interrupted them all and asked, "So what did you want to tell us?"

Alex looked at Justin for a reassuring look before slowly telling them, "We're going to get married."

Theresa instantly beamed with happiness, "That's great! I'm so happy for you two!" She engulfed her daughter and looked at her engagement ring. "I can't believe I missed seeing this earlier!"

She then hugged her soon to be son-in-law while Justin muttered, "Thanks…" He tightly hugged his mother back, realizing that he missed her so much.

Jerry hugged at Alex at the same time as he sighed, "My little girl is growing up too fast."

Alex smiled, "Aww…Daddy…I'll always be your little girl."

For some strange reason, Justin felt a small feeling begin to grow inside him. Was he envious of the way Alex could just refer to their father as "Daddy" while he was just a stranger to them?

Jerry shook Justin's hand for the second time that night and then quickly pulled him in for a hug. "Welcome to the family, Justin."

"Thanks, Dad." Justin realized his mistake and then stuttered, "Oh…I meant…umm…Mr. Russo."

Jerry chuckled, "It's alright. You've always seemed like a son to me."

Justin weakly smiled and thought how true that statement was.

Jerry smiled, "I was wondering when you were going to pop the question!"

"…You were?"

"Well, yeah. You came to ask me if you could ask Alex to marry her a few months ago."

"You did?" Alex asked Justin with curiosity.

"I…I…did…" Justin said, unsure about a lot of things.

Alex smiled sweetly, "You're such a gentleman."

Justin watched as Alex moved closer to him and placed a hand on his chest, slowly moving in for a kiss. For a second he was about to push her away, but he realized that their parents didn't know who he really was. He was going to have to get used to that. He leaned in as well and gently kissed Alex before breaking out into a smile.

Max stood to the side, "Uhh…well….do I get to congratulate you?" He laughed before turning to Alex, "I can't believe my sister is getting married already."

Jerry nodded as he turned to Justin, "I can't believe it either. I was surprised that you wanted to marry Alex at such a young age. I wouldn't have let you two married at such a young age if it wasn't for you, Justin. We've known you for a quite awhile now and I know you'll take good care of Alex."

Justin smiled, "Thanks…umm…I don't think we were expecting to get married this early either."

"Oh really?"

"Uhh…yeah…something came up that made us decide to do this." Justin started.

Alex added, "And it has to do with this little girl right here…" She urged for Maxine to come closer to them.

"Whoa! I didn't you see you there!" Max exclaimed in surprise.

Jerry remembered, "Oh right…who is she?"

"This is Maxine." Alex introduced and continued, "And she's our…daughter."

"Hi…" Maxine mumbled softly.

Jerry looked from Alex to Justin to Maxine and then back to Alex. "What?"

"That doesn't seem right…does it?" Max scratched his head as he racked his brain for answers.

Jerry studied the little girl longer and then sighed, "How?"

Justin chimed in, "Just to get things straight, she traveled from the future."

Theresa exclaimed, "From the future? So she's a wizard too…"

Jerry smiled, "So she still inherited the Russo wizard genes, huh?"

Alex smiled, "Yeah."

Jerry nodded, "Alex, you'll lose your powers because Justin is a mortal, but at least your daughter still has magic in her."

Theresa nodded and looked at Maxine, "You're beautiful, sweetie. I can't believe I get to meet you."

Maxine smiled, "I love you, Grandma."

Theresa sternly replied, "_Grandma? _Who gave you permission to call me that? I'm still young yet!" Her shocked expression turned into a chuckle, "Well, at least I have the cutest granddaughter ever!"

Maxine hugged her tight while Jerry patted her back. He asked, "So who gives you magic lessons?"

"Well…Mom's too lazy to give me lessons, so Dad does."

Jerry grinned, "Why am I not surprised? It makes sense for your father to give you magic lessons…he's learnt a lot about magic being around us so much…it's like he's a wizard himself!"

Maxine nodded, "Yeah…but Uncle Max helps out sometimes too."

"Uncle Max?" Max thought to himself for a bit before replying, "I like it." He looked at everyone, "I'm the family wizard now…how odd…I never thought this would happen."

"I hope you can handle it, bro." Alex giggled with excitement and fear for her little brother.

"Don't worry. I love magic." He turned to Maxine, "It's like you and I are the only ones with powers…are you ready to mess with everyone?"

"Yeah! We do it all the time!" Maxine mischievously smiled.

Alex continued, "Oh…by the way, I'm pregnant." Everyone's jaws dropped, even Justin didn't think Alex would be so blunt.

"With Maxine?" Theresa asked eagerly.

"Yup…I'm just about a month and a half along." Alex felt weird saying that.

"Oh congratulations, mija! This is such a big step for you…for both of you!" Theresa hugged Alex for the millionth time that evening.

Mija…she called her Mija. Justin sighed as he realized she wouldn't call him Mijo anymore. His thoughts were interrupted by Jerry.

Jerry sternly stared at Justin, "I hope you're ready for this, young man…this is a huge responsibility."

Justin was a bit nervous, but he replied, "I know…I promise to be there for Alex always."

Alex smiled at him before leaning closer to his body.

Max's eyes widened, "Gosh, you guys are just confessing everything today, aren't you?"

Alex nodded, "I guess so…it feels good too." She truly meant that…now she or Justin didn't feel burdened anymore.

"So this is why you wanted to get married early, huh?" Theresa asked.

"Uhh…yeah…I wanted to settle down as soon as possible before the baby comes." Justin quickly made something up.

"We're planning on a small wedding on May 14."

"That's a month away!" Jerry exclaimed.

"Yeah, we want it as quick as possible…"

"That's good. Your baby bump will just start showing a few weeks after that probably." Theresa observed.

"Oh right…didn't even think about that." Alex smiled. "I can fit into a proper dress!"

"So the baby will be due around December…?" Jerry noticed.

"That sounds about right. When's your birthday, Maxine?" Justin asked.

Maxine cautiously replied, "Am I allowed to tell you specific details like that?"

"Oh…good point. Don't tell us…the least we know from the future, the better."

"But you're right though, I'm a December baby." Maxine grinned.

As the Russo family ate dinner, Justin couldn't help, but feel excluded. Sure, Alex and everyone else talked to him, but for some reason, he felt…alone. His parents and Max had no idea what happened- how much he had to give up. He couldn't stand it whenever his parents reminisced on memories of Alex and Max. Sometimes he just wanted to shout "I was there too!" But he didn't. He _couldn't. _His parents would then try and tell stories to him, as if he didn't know it already. Throughout dinner, he did his best to push those thoughts to the back of his mind, but it came to the point where he couldn't deal with it anymore.

Justin awkwardly cleared his throat and excused himself, "I need to go to…the bathroom."

Alex looked at him cautiously, noticing that certain look in his eyes and wondering what he was going to do. Theresa smiled sweetly at him, "Sure, honey. You know where the bathroom is…"

Justin cut her off immediately and coldly replied, "Yeah. I know."

He hastily walked upstairs and headed to the bathroom. He shut the door and just leaned against it. He cursed under his breath and muttered, "Of course I know where the freaking bathroom is." He just needed some time to cool off. He sighed and remained silent, not daring to look in the mirror for he thought if he did, then he might just see a totally different person. After several minutes, he straightened himself up and prepared to go back downstairs. However as he walked down the hallway, he couldn't help recognize all the other rooms. His parent's room was at the far end. Max's room was next, then his, and then Alex's. He turned around quietly and entered his parent's room first. It was the same as he remembered it before, but as he glanced at the photos plastered on the wall, he felt hurt and lost. He could tell where each picture was taken, but he was in _none _of them. He was literally erased from their lives. All their family pictures were consisted of his parents, Alex, and Max. He sighed and quickly left the room.

After opening Max's door a slight bit and taking a whiff at some odd smell, he immediately closed it. He was definitely going in Max's room- it hadn't changed one bit. He looked in the next room, expecting to see his girly wall paper along with his science lab materials and Captain Jim Bob Sherwood action figures. But everything was just gone. Just like that. It was a rather empty room used for storage. There were some extra boxes lying around as well as a computer. He also closed the door within minutes- nothing really interested him in there.

Finally, he reached Alex's room. He was never really allowed in her room, but he thought this one time will be okay. He recognized the pink fuzzy wallpaper plastered all over the place, magazines scattered all over the floor, and the bed not even made. Yeah, this was definitely Alex's room. However, as he headed out the door, he realized she had posted pictures on one of the inner walls. He looked closely- only to feel lost and insecure once again. Sure, there were lots of pictures of him and Alex, but there were also a couple of their family. He slowly lifted two pictures off the wall and sat on Alex's bed while he compared them to each other. One picture was of him and Alex at the beach. She was fooling around with his new sunglasses while he laughed. Justin smiled and realized how lucky he was to be with Alex, but as he looked at the next photo in his other hand, his heart sank. It was his favorite family picture taken just a year ago- the one in Puerto Rico. Lots of things had happened there, but it made their family closer. But he was no longer part of that anymore. A tear trickled down his face as he traced the spot where he was supposed to be. He was so caught up in the moment that he didn't even recognize Alex standing in the doorway.

"Hey…Justin?"

Justin was startled by her voice and jumped up, shoving the picture frames behind him on the bed. He wiped his few tears away before answering, "Y..yeah?"

"I…I…was just checking on you. You were taking awhile and…"

Justin nodded as his eyes glistened, "I…I'm good."

Alex moved closer, noticing his tear stained face. Placing his hand in hers, she softly asked, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"N..nothing…" Justin looked away.

Alex silently looked behind him and picked up the two pictures. At that instant, she realized what he was feeling.

As another tear managed to escape, Justin mumbled, "I'm not part of this family anymore. Just like that, huh?"

Alex shook her head, "No, Justin. You are part of this family…you will always be and you know that."

"But I don't feel like I belong!" Justin exclaimed.

"I know…and…"

"No you don't _know_! You just don't….forget it, Alex." Justin pushed his way past her.

"Justin, where…." She quickly followed him out.

As everyone seemed shocked by Justin's sudden rush, Justin explained, "I need to leave…sorry."

He took his jacket and left, Alex only a couple feet behind him. She quickly said, "Maxine…umm…you can hang around here for awhile. Mom, Dad…or Max…can you just ride with her in a taxi later tonight? Back to Justin's place…uhh…thanks." With that, Alex left and hurried out.

By this time, Justin had reached outside the substation and felt for his wand, ready to flash himself out of there. But after finding nothing, he swore and alerted a taxi. He arrived at his place within 15 minutes and went straight to his bedroom.

Justin was full of bitterness and jealousy, wishing that his mind would just clear up. He kept thinking about how _much _he had to give up. He practically gave up his life just to be with Alex. Sure, he made that decision and he loved Alex, but he felt all alone. He felt like no one understood him (the truth was no one actually did) and he felt so envious. Alex seemed to always get what she wants…she had it all. She didn't have to make such a huge sacrifice- he did. She said she would be with him every step of the way, but somehow, he didn't feel like she was making an effort. He lost his whole family, his friends…nothing could ever fix that.

After awhile, he walked out into the living room, only to be stop dead in his tracks. Alex was sitting on the couch in front of him. He wasn't expected her to follow him back.

Noticing his presence, Alex jumped up and walked towards him, "Justin…what's going on?"

Still full of envy and resentment, Justin replied, "I think you know what's making me upset."

Alex sighed, "Justin, I told you this before…you're still part of the family."

"You think this is all so simple, don't you? You're perfectly fine because Mom, Dad, and Max treat you the same. Well, what about me? I'm _alone._"

"What? No you're not! I'm here with you. We're going to go through all of this together."

"You don't understand! No one knows who the hell I am anymore!"

"I do! And I love you, Justin. I…I…" Alex was lost for words, but then calmly said, "You don't have to be strong, Justin. You don't have to feel like you're the hero all the time…sometimes it's okay to just let go."

"I've lost _everything_, Alex! Nothing can ever take the place of what I lost! I didn't even get to say goodbye to Max…my _brother_!"

Meanwhile, Jerry rode with Maxine back to Justin's place. He started to get out of the car to bring her to the door, but Maxine stopped him. She said she'd be fine and quickly thanked him for bringing her back. Maxine quietly entered her father's condo and was instantly greeted with shouts. She cringed at her parent's voices and just quietly peeked from the corner.

"You knew these were the consequences of us being together! Why are you blaming me now!" Alex yelled.

"I'm not blaming you! I just never thought it would be this problematic for me! It's driving me insane!" Justin retorted.

"For _you_? It's difficult for you? Don't you think I feel bad! Knowing that you made a sacrifice for us?"

"That's the thing, Alex…all you can do is just watch me _suffer. _You don't have to deal with it!"

"Well what do you want me to do? I can't do much for you, can I? What's done is done. We thought about this decision and we went through with it. Now we have to stick by it."

Justin sighed, "I…I just wish things were different."

"Wh..what do you mean…by that?" Alex obviously sounded a bit hurt- she was interested what he truly meant. What was he trying to say?

"This only happened to me because we fell in love. We needed each other and then things got really messy. The whole thing with Maxine…and…we just _had _to do something about it!"

Alex felt tears sting her eyes as she did her best to reply, "We can't change how we feel, Justin! And sure, things got crazy, but if we didn't do anything…then we wouldn't even be here today!"

Justin shouted, "Well, I'm sorry Alex! I'm sorry I couldn't find a better solution for us. That's all I ever do…fix everyone's problems! I never even think about how it'll affect me."

"Ju…Justin…you thrive on fixing problems…you're always the one who…" Alex could barely finish her sentences. "What…do you want us to do…now?"

"There's nothing for us to do! You know that! I'm stuck like this forever! Maybe if things were different…then…"

"Then what?"

"Then maybe we wouldn't be together. Everything that's happened between us just screws up my life! It's ridiculous and I wish that it didn't happen. I want everything to be like it was a few years ago. Just…not like _this._" Justin honestly replied.

Alex was clearly upset by Justin's words. She didn't want to believe what he just said to her. She quietly relied, "I'm sorry…that we fell in…love." She looked down at the ground.

At that moment, something hit Justin like a ton of bricks. Everything seemed to click- how rude and unfair he was being towards Alex. He didn't mean the things he said- he was just caught in the whirlwind of his emotions. He sighed and looked remorseful, "Al...Alex…I didn't mean… "

"Well then what did you mean?" Alex spat at him.

"I…don't know…but I lov…" Justin didn't even finish his sentence as he watched Alex's eyes wander towards the corner of the room- where their little girl was standing.

Maxine looked at her parents with a face full of tears. She could barely control her breathing as she stood there, shaking as she cried. She couldn't face her parents, so she ran to the nearest room, which just happened to be the bedroom. She continued to cry.

Now, Alex wasn't concerned with what just happened between Justin and her. She was more concerned for that little girl who had witnessed them fighting. She had heard every word and insult- making Alex's heart sink.

"Ju..Justin…" Alex pleaded with him.

Justin studied Alex's face and realized that she was saying something along the lines of _"Now look what you did."_

He apologized, "Y…you know that I didn't mean…"

Alex slowly nodded, but took off and knocked on the door their daughter had gone into. She heard crying on the other side and reasoned, "Maxine? Will you open the door?"

No response, so Justin tried, "I…I'm sorry you had to see that all, sweetie. We…we're just not used to having you around and…we didn't even realize what…"

Noticing Justin was fumbling, Alex added, "Maxine…we're so sorry for what we said…Daddy didn't mean it and…"

Alex didn't even finish her sentence as the door opened and Maxine flung herself against Alex. Tears continued to flow as Maxine stuttered, "I...I'm so sorry…"

Justin knelt down to the same level as Alex while she hugged Maxine. He rubbed her back, "No…Maxine, I…"

"_No_!" Maxine exclaimed, determined to say what she wanted to say. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean…for you…to feel this way. I didn't want it to be like this…"

Alex replied, "Maxine, it's okay…we love you and…"

Maxine shook her head, "I didn't…realize how much you had to give up for me. It's my fault that you both made such huge sacrifices for me."

Justin replied softly, "Maxine, we did it because we love you. We wanted a life with each other and you…we wouldn't have gone through we did if weren't serious about this all."

Maxine mumbled, "B…but you said that…"

"Forget what I said. I was being stupid and impolite. I'm just having a hard time, but I know things will turn out alright. I have you and your Mom. What more do I need?"

Alex smiled sweetly at Justin, realizing that he was apologizing to her in his own little way. "We're going to be just fine, Maxine. Don't worry about all this. It's _no one's fault_ that all of this happened. It just did…and we dealt with it."

Justin nodded, "We did make a big sacrifice, but this decision we made was worth us taking the risk to get the chance to be together."

"Yeah, it was _definitely _worth it." Alex said as she looked at Justin, her eyes twinkling with thankfulness and love.

**Hopefully you enjoyed reading this! Please review!**


	16. Picture Perfect

**I'm back! Thank you all for patiently waiting. I can't promise when I will update, but I'll do it as often as possible! Here's the next chapter! **

With a small knock on the door, Max entered the room, "Hey, everyone is in their places. We're ready for you."

Alex turned around and nodded, not finding the need to say anything.

Max began to close the door, but then, quietly remarked, "And Alex?"

Alex turned around once more and looked at him. Max closed the door behind him and walked up to her, "You look beautiful."

Alex smiled, "Thank you, Max."

Max hugged his sister and kissed her gently on her cheek. He flashed his signature smile at her and said, "See? I know what I'm doing even when I don't know what I'm doing."

With those last words, he left and Alex was alone once more.

Alex opened her eyes. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she traced her long, white dress that flowed right to the floor. She lifted her dress for a slight second, making sure her shoes- her white converses, accented with jewels- were neatly put together. She then fixed the small purple flower in her hair before realizing she was happy. The purple flower, the converse, and the light make up- it was so her.

She sighed. It all seemed surreal. They had made so many sacrifices all for this. In just a few minutes, everything they had dreamt of, wished for, and hoped for was finally coming true. Today was _the _day.

It was their wedding day.

* * *

The music had slowly faded and the room fell silent. Justin looked at the small crowd in front of him. He smiled at his mother (in-law) and gave her a small smile as she wiped tears from her eyes. He looked at the people beside him- all the groomsmen and bridesmaids. He looked at Harper, the Maid of Honor, who gave him a slight nod. He then turned his head to his best man- his brother, who also gave him a small nod. Then he looked down to the side of him and received the most beautiful smile in the whole world. It was their flower girl, their daughter- Maxine. Her eyes were shining and her face glowed, which made him feel a whole lot better. It was time. He looked at the floor for a split second and thanked God. As soon as he looked up, the doors opened.

This was reallyhappening. He couldn't believe it.

He locked eyes with her and at that moment, he knew they were going to make it. As he gazed at her, he knew she was thinking of all the hardships they had gone through to be where they were. After all these years, they were getting married. They were devoting their whole selves to each other and no one could stop them.

As she reached the altar, their father kissed her on the head and shook his hand before going to sit down with their mother. Justin took a deep breath and held his hand out to Alex. He squeezed it gently and smiled once more.

After the endless readings and speeches from their Pastor, it was time for vows.

Justin had practiced what he was going to say many times, but he still felt nervous. He could make speeches anytime, anywhere, but standing in front of Alex and opening his heart to her was surreal. He opened his mouth, praying that the words would roll smoothly.

"Alex…I thank God for you each day. I love your laugh, your smiles, your eyes…I love the way you look at me when you're in trouble, knowing that I will help you in a heartbeat. I love you, Alex and nothing could ever change the way that I feel about you." Justin paused and scanned the audience. He then continued, "No one in this room truly understands how much we've gone through to be here today. There have been times where I feel like I should just let go of the piece of string that is holding my life together, but because of you, I'm able to hold on. You are the reason why I get up each day and just breathe. When you're with me, I can hardly concentrate on anything else. You have made me a better person and showed me that I deserve someone as wonderful as you. And in return, I hope I make you feel that way too. I hope that I am everything you want in a husband, a father, and a best friend. Never in my life have I felt so strongly responsible for someone. Honestly, I have never felt as alive as I do today. Alex, I promise to take care of you, to be there for you, and to love you. Today is the day my life truly begins.

Justin took a deep breath and with a sparkle in his eyes, he smiled at Alex. Alex had tears in her eyes and he knew she was doing her best to hold them back.

Alex felt the nerves rise in her as she looked Justin straight in the eyes. She began to speak to the audience, "As you all know, I am Alex Russo…and Alex Russo does not really write speeches and do all that stuff. So what I'm about to say comes directly from my heart, not from something I've prepared. Also, you all may know that I have a hard time expressing my feelings, but right now, the only person that truly matters to me is Justin." Alex let a tear roll down her face as her voice trembled, "Justin…I don't know what I've done to deserve you. I'm the type of girl, who could sleep all day, live on pickles for the rest of my life, act on impulse without thinking…this list could go on. But Justin, you're the type of guy who wouldn't hurt a fly, who works hard, and stays true to himself. Honestly, I don't think I deserve someone as amazing as you. But for some reason, I guess I got lucky. I love you, Justin, and I know our life will be everything we've asked for. We can get through anything because it's you and I."

The Pastor smiled at the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Russo. He concluded the service with, "Remember the promises you have made to each other today, carry them close in your heart, but most all live them, each and every day. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Maxine stood right beside them and after the long-awaited kiss, she jumped into her father's arms for a family hug. In the midst of all the commotion and cheering, Maxine noticed a bright flash and swore that she heard someone say, "Picture perfect."

* * *

"No. Alex, I'm not letting you do this." Justin shook his head.

Alex replied, "Well get over it because I am doing this."

"No, you're not."

"Give me a good reason not to."

"You're five months pregnant."

"Way to state the obvious."

"Alex, please….don't. You might get hurt." Justin pleaded.

Alex raised her voice, "What is so dangerous about me painting the baby's nursery? I have a great idea. It'll be light purple and the theme will be magic. How great is that? I was thinking of putting…"

"Alex, I don't want you over doing yourself."

"You say that about every little thing I do nowadays. If I need to rest, then I will."

"I said no."

"Justin!"

Maxine sighed as she heard light shouting from upstairs. Her father was probably being over protective again. She loved the fact that he cared so much, but he needed to lighten up. He wouldn't let Alex out of his sight. Wanting to figure out what was going on, she abandoned her sandwich and walked out of the kitchen. They had moved into their house just a month ago, but Maxine was very familiar with it already. She walked up the stairs and into the nursery- and her future bedroom.

"What is wrong now?" Maxine looked at her parents.

"Alex wants to paint the nursery!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Maxine asked impatiently.

Justin looked at her with disbelief, "Are you seriously defending your mother right now? Maxine, she could get hurt!"

Alex smirked at Justin, "Hah!"

"She'll be fine, Dad! Besides, you minus well let her do it now. Do you want her doing it when she's eight months pregnant?" Maxine pointed out.

"Well no…it's just that…"

"Look at me, Dad. I'm fine….I'm alive."

Defeated, Justin shook his head and gave in, "Fine, but don't make it too extravagant, Alex."

Alex smiled, "Thank you."

Justin kissed her cheek and mentioned, "We should really get going and shop for some baby things. Some of the stores close early today."

Alex nodded, "Yeah, let's go. Maxine, grab your coat."

Maxine's expression fell, "I have to come? You're kidding, right?"

"No…you can help us pick out some stuff. It'll be good family bonding." Justin smiled.

Maxine turned around and rolled her eyes- there was no way this shopping trip was going to go smoothly. And Maxine was definitely right. The three of them did not return home until late at night. They had gone to a number of stores, buying clothes/supplies and ordering furniture. It really shouldn't have taken them seven hours to do that, but Justin and Alex could not get through one store without disagreeing on something. They would always turn to Maxine, who would fortunately solve their arguments. However, it got really old. Maxine couldn't even begin to imagine how they would deal with things when the baby arrived.

**Thanks for staying with this story, everyone! Hope you are looking forward to the final chapters! Thanks again for being patient with me. Please review too :) **


End file.
